


Singularity #8: "Undaunted"

by Marc_Quill



Series: Marc Quill's Singularity [9]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Adventure, Conspiracy Thriller, M/M, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-21
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-09-19 01:57:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9412703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marc_Quill/pseuds/Marc_Quill
Summary: In the explosive final issue of "Singularity", Finn and Ava must fight to the bitter end in order to prevent Selfridge and SDI from attaining Skye's blood to restart Project Singularity. There's just one problem: Skye is dead. Or is she?While her two friends struggle to fight off the legions of SDI soldiers and Genetic Extractors, Skye is in for quite literally, the fight of her life as she's forced to take on the haunting visions in her mind in order to finally get some answers about what truly defines her.Can Finn and Ava survive SDI's onslaught? Is Skye gone for good?





	1. Recap

**_Previously on_ ** **Singularity** **_…_ **

On the streets of Toronto, a young woman only known as “Skye” — born with superhuman strength and endurance, among other abilities — found herself hunted down by SDI Genomics’ Repossession Task Force led by ex-JTF-2 operative Samuel Brandt. The R.T.F.’s mission: apprehend Skye and extract her extraordinary secrets by any means necessary.

Skye ended up encountering Finch “Finn” Finwick, a gay youth who wanted to help her in uncovering the truth about SDI, as well as Ava Lorenz, a homeless teen born with the ability to generate a perpetual amount of energy that she can manipulate into various forms. Together, these three wholly different individuals have banded together to expose the secret behind Project Singularity before it’s too late.

After a daring rescue mission to SDI’s Base Alpha seemingly went awry, Finn and Ava soon got help from Skye — who was disguised as a SDI guard. The three heroes soon found out from Dr. Ilsa Antrovich what exactly Gerald Selfridge planned to do once he acquired Skye’s blood for his own use.

In Toronto, a disturbance at police headquarters allowed for the in-custody Samuel Brandt to make an escape in the midst of the chaos.

Selfridge unleashed a massive super-soldier known only as Omega on the three heroes, hoping to completely drain Skye of her blood to prolong his life and to strengthen his prospective Singularity super-soldier army.

The unthinkable happened when the gigantic Omega seemingly killed Skye by impaling her with an indestructible blade forged from iridium and yttrium after she protected Ava from the monster’s wrath. Still mourning the death of their friend, Finn and Ava are now forced to face the oncoming attack from Selfridge’s Genetic Extractors alone…

—

**Chapter I – I Believe in You**

**_SDI Base Alpha Armory – January 29th, 2016 – 1345 hours_ **

Inside the top-secret weapons development section of SDI’s Base Alpha, the situation grew dire for Finn and Ava as they were still trying to recover both physically and mentally from seeing Skye die at the hands of SDI’s so-called “ultimate” weapon of mass destruction. To make matters worse, Mr. Selfridge sent for his Genetic Extractors to attack their exact location in the hopes of getting a sample of Skye’s blood for his own selfish uses — namely, his attempt to cultivate a new army of Project Singularity super-soldiers, as well as using it to prolong his life.

“Ava… I know you’re terrified right now, and really, I don’t blame you because of what happened to Skye…” Finn tried to motivate her young friend. “…but I need you to focus because we’re about to be fed to SDI’s piranhas if we don’t do something.”

“Y’need to do your light thingy so that these bastards don’t get anywhere close to us or Skye.”

Wiping away tears from her face, Ava nodded and began to ball up her fist to summon the amazing energy powers she was gifted with at birth. Soon, her hands were completely covered in pink energy that was bright enough to illuminate the large Armory room. On cue, she threw a single powerful blast right at the approaching SDI soldiers, who fell down from the sheer force of Ava’s energy burst.

Despite that momentary advantage, more SDI soldiers poured through the Armory entrance, with the armored Genetic Extractors emerging to lead the charge. The five enhanced super-soldiers under Selfridge’s command had two primary directives: 1. Eliminate Remaining Resistance / 2. Extract The Subject’s Blood.

As the SDI soldiers began to fire away at Finn and Ava, they dragged Skye’s lifeless body behind a small tower of crates that provided temporary cover from the gunfire blazing at them. It wasn’t exactly easy for them to be pulling what was essentially the dead corpse of someone they called a “friend”, but Finn and Ava really had no choice on the matter.

Keeping Skye’s body safe from SDI’s soldiers was the top priority now for Finn and Ava, as difficult as this task was going to be for them.

Finn noticed a large silver cannon with blue energy pulsating from the glass casings contained within it lying about right beside the crate he and Ava were hiding behind. He reached out cautiously to take the cannon, narrowly avoiding having his arms getting shot at.

“Do you know how to use that, Finn?” Ava asked with wonder about the weapon her friend was wielding.

Finn pressed a button on the cannon to charge it up. The blue energy within the cannon began to glow brightly. Realizing that he was armed and ready to fire his weapon, Finn aimed it at the oncoming SDI soldiers and blasted at them repeatedly. The recoil from the cannon caught him off guard, knocking him back slightly, but the blast of energy sent the SDI soldiers flying into the walls.

“Oh-ho-ho-ho…..” Finn grinned at the firepower he now had before firing again with the cannon, blasting aside even more SDI soldiers with it. “I hope you SDI assholes enjoy the taste of hot plasma!”

“Someone looks like they’re havin’ fun…” Ava remarked at Finn’s sharpshooting with the plasma cannon before joining along with some energy blasts of her own. While they were both easily able to turn away the regular SDI soldiers, the same couldn’t be said for their efforts against the oncoming Genetic Extractors.

The five enhanced drones under Gerald Selfridge’s command soon stood at the front of the Armory entrance after the remaining SDI soldiers fell. They began to scan the Armory for their targets in order to accomplish the mission assigned to them.

Ava tried to get a peek at the Extractors, but Finn soon got her to stay behind the crates to avoid detection.

“Stay low for the moment, Ava…” Finn instructed. “…and let’s hope that there’s some last-second miracle that can help us here.”

“Otherwise, we’re screwed.”

—

**_The Middle of Nowhere_ **

Slowly opening her green eyes, Skye felt herself breathing once again. She was lying on a surface that felt strangely cold and rigid, but she maybe was seemingly alive again. Skye soon realized that she was no longer inside the Armory of SDI’s Base Alpha complex. Instead, Skye found herself in a world devoid of any life — or color, for that matter. The only thing that seemed to exist was a vast, empty world where Skye appeared to be the only living thing in existence.

Instinctively, Skye looked down at her chest to see if she was still fatally wounded, but that gaping laceration she suffered at the hands of SDI’s Super-Soldier Omega seemingly vanished without any trace. She then put her hand across her left wrist, finding out right away that her skin felt cold as if she were dead — even though she clearly was not deceased. That seemed to give her a hint that something was off about all this right away.

“Finn? Ava?” Skye’s voice echoed through the expanse of nothingness, but there was no reply from either of them. “….where are you guys? Anyone here?”

The minutes began to pass, as Skye soon realized that she was alone in this empty world without any idea what was going on. Nothing else but the sound of her voice kept her company at this time.

 _“Okay, this is just beyond weird now….”_ Skye mused as she kicked aside a discarded empty can that flew all the way to god-knows-where.

At that moment, the blank world that surrounded Skye faded away to reveal an equally-vacant forest area, further confusing the twenty year-old. This forest was covered partially in snow, and leaves everywhere. It didn’t take too long for Skye to realize what she was looking at right now.

 _“Wait…. something’s familiar about this.”_  Skye once again thought to herself as her suspicions of her whereabouts soon became clear.

A young girl with reddish hair and wearing a tattered brown coat with equally-worn jeans walked right into Skye’s view, tears streaming from her eyes. Skye instinctively approached the red-haired girl and knelt beside where she was sitting down.

“You alright there?” Skye tried her best “comforting” voice to talk to the crying young girl.

“NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!” The young girl howled angrily as she ran through the forest to avoid talking to Skye. It seemed like she didn’t want any help whatsoever, as well-meaning as the idea might’ve been. That, of course, didn’t deter Skye from trying her best to help this seemingly-unknown little girl feel better.

Even so, the little girl continued to ignore Skye through the tears she was shedding. Further punctuating that was an unusually strong shove that caused Skye to slide back into a large redwood tree — a shove that was strong enough to cause the tree to partially crack.

“Y’don’t have to be afraid, miss…” Skye’s face turned into an expression of warmth while she reached out a hand to the little girl. “I’m here to help you.”

As the young girl turned her weeping eyes towards Skye, it soon became clear for the twenty year-old that this kid that she was comforting was a younger version of herself — brought to life in her mind for some unknown reason.

This event that was being recreated by Skye’s mind? The day that she was left behind mysteriously by her creator/mother, Dr. Elizabeth Emery back in 2001 — a day that would alter the course of Skye’s life forever. That was the very same day that would force a young girl born with superhuman abilities she barely understood at the time to take care of herself for the rest of her life.

“I miss my mommmmmmm…….” young, six year-old Skye sobbed while her older self put an arm around her for comfort. “Why did she leave me? I was being good!’

“I dunno, to be honest…” Skye spoke honestly. “I… know what it’s like to have a parent disappear on you without explanation. It really does suck.”

“Don’t worry, though. You’ll grow up to be the kindest and strongest person ever, just like your mom would’ve wanted. Trust me.”

Young Skye briefly stopped her crying upon listening to what she was being told. “R-really? You really mean that?”

Actual Skye gave her younger self a knowing nod, then patting her on the back. “I promise. You have nothing to worry about. I’ll take care of you.”

With a bit of hesitation, Young Skye held the one hand of her older self with both of her own hands, but she still had one more concern. “Wh-what if I don’t do it? What if I’m not strong enough to be kind? What if everyone hates me?”

“I j-just want everyone to like meeeee……”

Before the real Skye could give an answer to this manifestation of her younger self, the forest scenery began to slowly disappear. It didn’t take too long for five-year-old Skye to vanish along with everything else, which only served to unsettle the real Skye even further.

On cue, the void shifted to yet another scene, presumably again representing a moment from Skye’s past. This time, it was a bridge backed up with traffic and people panicking all around.

Yes, Skye was reliving that moment from her past where she prevented a tragedy from unfolding on the Nipigon Bridge in an early show of her superhuman strength… only this time it seemed like things would be playing out differently.

 _“Oh… kay. This whole ‘Greatest Hits’ of my life is getting a bit too on the nose.”_ Skye quietly mumbled to herself yet again.

In this new variation of the past, Skye saw her younger self struggle greatly with keeping a truck from crashing into the water below the Nipigon Bridge — as if her powers weren’t working as well as they should.

Skye knew that she couldn’t let this altered version of the events in Nipigon play out like it was going to, so she decided to step into action to assist this illusion version of herself in saving the day.

“Here, let me give you a hand…” Skye turned to her teenage copy before using all her strength to lift the truck back onto the bridge.

Rather than being accepting of the help she was receiving, teenage Skye saw her older duplicate and tried to throw a punch that was successfully avoided by this older, more experienced version of herself.

“I didn’t need your help!” Teen Skye shouted angrily while trying to punch her older self again. “I’m strong enough to hand—”

“Okay, um… Me. Just calm down, please.” Actual Skye felt a bit weird in giving herself a pep talk, but that was the only thing left for her to do here. “I know you feel like you’re so strong that you can handle anything without anyone’s help… but I can tell you that you can’t live your life like that.”

“I used to think that I could take on the world by myself, too. It’s… not exactly something I’d call a good idea. Maybe you’ll come to realize that, too.”

“Probably…” Teen Skye shrugged. “But, right now I just want to know one thing: Who are you and why the hell do you look and sound like me if I was older?”

Actual Skye responded flatly. “Y’wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Even I don’t know what’s going on.”

Before Skye could dwell on what the hell was going on exactly, the, Nipigon Bridge scene collapsed into the empty black void, leaving only the twenty year-old superhuman in its wake. Whatever was going on certainly was raising only more questions than providing any concrete answers for Skye.

Furthering the confusion was the sudden smell of burning ember that caught Skye’s attention. She cautiously followed the scent to find herself in the ruins of an unidentified city… right in the middle of a sight that horrified her.

A pile of dead bodies loomed right in front of Skye — all maimed and mangled beyond recognition — but it was the bodies of two certain individuals that seemed to trigger a greater emotional reaction.

“No… no…. This can’t be real….” Skye shook her head in disbelief once she realize whose dead bodies were right in front of her. “

She knelt over and saw Finn and Ava’s bloodied corpses, both killed by the hands of an unknown entity. Her heart was already beating at an abnormal rate — further exacerbated by seeing her two friends dead. She had no idea what the hell was going on.

Skye’s mind once again flashed back to the incident at Kensington Market, when she almost killed Finn while brought under latent programming that turned her into a mindless assassin. That was the one thing that left Skye afraid of the power she was capable of if she ever fell into the wrong hands. Was what Skye was seeing right before her very eyes a twisted representation of those events?

The twenty year-old could barely catch her breath before the pile of dead corpses began to twitch back to life. The dead corpses eyes’ were hued in an eerie red, completely focused on Skye.

“MURDERER! MONNNNNNSTER!!!” The decrepit moans of these undead figures filled the air, their screeches sounding like a sharp cut that pierced Skye’s hearing momentarily. “YOU KILLED USSSSS!!!!”

Skye instinctively took a defensive stance to protect herself from these reanimated corpses, only to find herself trembling in mild fear when he saw the zombified versions of Ava and Finn among those approaching her.

The zombie-like figures slowly began shifting into the more familiar appearance of the strange, skeletal cloaked figures from Skye’s earlier nightmares, who seemed to be a representation of the scientists and geneticists under SDI’s employ that helped to create her.

One of these cloaked scientists, who stood in front of the rest of its cohorts, stood forward and peered directly towards Skye with its unearthly eyes.

“The sssssssssubject has shown great promise….” the lead “scientist” hissed creepily while it studied Skye with great intent. “Let the experimentsssssssss begin….”

As the bizarre, decaying corpses inched ever-so-closer to her, Skye cowered uncharacteristically, falling to her knees and covering her head with both arms — as if she was overcome with a sudden attack of despair far greater than anything she had ever experienced.

“leavemealoneleavemealone…..” Skye was reduced to feeble whimpering as she tried to hide herself from the ghoulish figures that were coming for her. She tried to get herself back up, but she was feeling even weaker than she had ever felt in her life. Skye simply could not stand her ground without her legs wobbling due to how afraid she was right now.

Soon, the ghastly howls of accusations grew louder and the corpses merged into a featureless mass of darkness that swallowed Skye completely.

Within the seeping black goop that was practically suffocating her, Skye was still wrought with fear, but she was still finding a way to resist it with whatever strength she had left. That frightened expression on Skye’s face slowly changed to a look of anger and determination.

“It’s gonna take more than spooky parlor tricks to kill me…. you ghastly bast—”

Skye’s bold declaration went unfinished as tendrils oozed out of the darkness and began to grab hold of her at every one of her appendages, lifting Skye up several feet in the air against her will.

“What aaaaaaaaaaare you without your sssssssstrength?” that snake-like droning of Skye’s tormentor continued to mock her defiance. “Youuuuuu cannot hope to esssssssscape thisssssss hell….”

The increased tension of the tendrils pulling at every direction would’ve likely torn Skye apart many times over, if not for her superhuman endurance coming into play. Another tendril crept up from behind Skye and strangled her by the neck to silence her cries for help. The haunting voices condemning Skye as nothing more but a weapon of mass destruction were back and were louder than they were before.

“The ssssssubject will bring about your dessssssstruction….” the “scientist” again cackled at the futility of Skye’s resistance.

“Our darknesssssssss will eclipsssssse the sssssssssky……..”

With a purposeful roar of “NO!” Skye mustered up all the willpower she could summon to rip apart the dark tendrils keeping her tied up. One by one, the tendrils disintegrated one after the other until Skye was completely free from their grasp. She dropped to the sludge-like surface below, trying to recollect herself after nearly being literally pulled apart.

Skye let out a rage-filled shout as she repeatedly punched through the seemingly-impenetrable wall of darkness that was suffocating her. Even if she was still feeling a sense of fear deep down inside, Skye was not going to let it consume her yet again. She wasn’t going to be afraid any longer. Soon, the ebony-hued slime burst into a million pieces after Skye’s last few strikes finally did the trick.

Once she was free from the “hell” that she had been trapped in, Skye went right after the cloaked skeletal figures that were torturing her. As imposing as these not-quite-doctors were, they simply were just no match for someone as strong as Skye was. The twenty year-old easily tore these monsters apart like paper, leaving only their apparent “leader” as the only one left standing.

“It issssssssssssssss foolisssssssh to keep resissssssssting….. Ssssssssskye….” The scientist’s cloak disintegrated to reveal a rapidly decaying mass of musculature and bones covered from head-to-toe in maggots. “Jusssssssst sssssssssurrender…. you will never hope to sssssurvive…..”

“Your nightmare sssssssssshall never ceassssssssse….”

The walking corpse raised his arms to summon more of the undead bodies to hold Skye in her place. She tried to break herself free, but to no avail. Once the bony and unnaturally pale husk got close to Skye to further taunt her, the ever-headstrong superhuman gave the ghoul a strong headbutt that caused its skull to crack right above the eyes.

That served to give Skye just enough time to use her powers to break herself loose of the pillars of dead corpses that were wrapped around her body. Mangled limbs were sent flying at every direction as a result of Skye’s forceful strikes.

Skye charged right towards the skeleton scientist and obliterated it with one shoulder tackle that caused her enemy to be blown away. Despite its apparent destruction, the cracked skull of this dark manifestation was still moving about — even if it was just a head without a body.

“I aaaaaam not who you sssssshould be focusssssssing yoursssssself on…” the chattering head of nameless scientist-zombie-hybrid-thing laughed maniacally. “your greatesssssssssst feaaaaaar awaaaaaaaitsss yooooooooooou…..”

“You have no chaaaaaaance in ssssssssstopping what comessssss nex—”

“Oh, I’m sorry… did I step on your moment?” Skye cut into the evil “scientist’s” gloating by stomping its head into nothingness.

Even with that display of courage, Skye couldn’t help but notice Ava’s corpse laying flat in front of a light pole turned askew. She approached Ava’s dead body and cradled it, as she began to weep. Skye realized that despite her boldness when facing down the hellish void, she still failed in her vow to protect her friends. That hopelessness for her situation was replaced with confusion once again when Ava’s body crumbled into indistinct black ashes that crumpled beneath Skye’s feet.

Looking down at the pile of dust that used to be her youngest friend, Skye tried to recollect herself as best as he could. Her focus again returned to the mystery figure seemingly responsible for all this destruction, and quite possibly, the “subject” the cloaked skeletal scientists had been alluding to.

Skye looked towards the figure that stood in the middle of the circle of fire, slowly approaching it with some trepidation. Once she got closer to the fire, Skye got a better look of the person that stood alone in the flames and was left aghast by what she saw.

The figure in the fire was Skye herself… only looking a lot more like Selfridge’s intended visions for her as a Project Singularity super-soldier more than the compassionate young woman she convinced herself to be. This other Skye was dressed in an all-black military uniform bearing the SDI logo on its shoulders, with her purple/pink hair substituted by black and red, and a much more empty expression on her face, devoid of any kindness whatsoever.

Having already been confronted by her past selves as a child and a teenager, Skye was starting to realize what was going on in her mind… even if she didn’t have the complete picture about her predicament.

 _“Oh, I really don’t have time for this vision quest crap…”_  Skye surmised to herself as the mirror version of herself prepared to charge towards her. She stood ready for a fight, even after the psychological torture she had just endured.

The dark mirror Skye tilted her head towards the original and slowly began to train her gun towards her target.

 _“I’ve never been afraid to beat myself up, but this seems a bit too literal.”_ Skye muttered, still slightly confused about having to take on a faux version of herself.

Her dreams were usually on the bizarre side, but whatever it was Skye was experiencing at the moment took the cake when it came to the strange happenings that surrounded everything around her. This was something else altogether — as if living through her past lives and encountering younger and evil versions of herself didn’t make it clear enough.

Before she could fight against the mirror copy of herself, said duplicate dispersed into an infinite amount of dark particles that completely engulfed Skye. In mere moments, the twenty year-old superhuman found herself surrounded by the endless reaches of outer space.

One of the stars began to glow brightly before a flash of light briefly blinded Skye for a moment. Once the light dissipated, the star began to take on a humanoid form, revealing itself to be Dr. Elizabeth Emery, the ex-SDI geneticist who helped create Skye over two decades ago.

Skye was speechless, unsure of what to make of seeing her surrogate mother in this ethereal form inside her mind.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to be afraid anymore…” Dr. Emery started to speak to her daughter, ready to comfort her in whatever way was possible. “I’m here for you, Skye.”

“Is it… is it really you?” Skye was filled with wonder and awe at what she was experiencing right now. “….mom?”

“Unfortunately, I’m only a representation of the real Elizabeth Emery that exists inside your mind, Skye. Comprised of the memories you’ve had of her taking care of you as a child.” Dr. Emery spoke with regret. “In reality, your body’s healing factor attempting to heal extensive injuries you’ve recently sustained. You’re on the brink of death.”

It didn’t take long for Skye to remember the moment she lost consciousness — when she seemingly sacrificed her life to protect Ava from one of Selfridge’s monstrous super-soldiers. That’s when she realized that she really wasn’t dead yet.

Skye knew her internal healing was strong enough to heal even a barrage of bullets, but this was something completely different altogether.

“So, the whole walk down Memory Lane is pretty much part of that?” Skye questioned the manifestation of Dr. Emery. “Like… my mind created all of this?”

Dr. Emery silently nodded in response to Skye’s question.

“I mean… that’s awesome and all, I’ll admit,” Skye continued to approach this situation that took over her mind with understandable bewilderment. “But, why is it doing this?”

“As far as I know, I never felt stronger than I did before that big SDI super-soldier stabbed me.”

“That may be true, Skye… but there’s something you need to understand.” Dr. Emery said firmly in order to try and explain what was going on.

“Those ghouls you encountered earlier… they are as every bit of a creation of your mind as I am.”

Skye’s curiosity got the better of her once again as she tried asking Dr. Emery another question. “I get that my mind would create a version of the woman who created and raised me into the person that I am before she vanished on me, but… why the heck would it also conjure up a bunch of zombies to hurt me?”

“It’s all connected to your whatever struggle’s raging on inside your head, Skye.” Dr. Emery offered up a simple explanation for what was going on. “Your heart’s firmly in the right place in wanting to protect your friends, but there’s still clearly something that’s eating away at you.”

“I’m proud of what you’ve turned out to be… You’ve grown into such a compassionate young woman, despite what my former SDI peers tried to do to you. But, you can’t let that be clouded by hubris manifesting itself from the raw physical strength given to you when we created you in 1995. Pride in your powers can easily turn into arrogance if you’re not careful.”

“I apologize for saying this to you, but I think I’m strong enough to resist that.” Skye tried her best not to sound rude while disagreeing with Dr. Emery. “I’ve been doing just that for years now.”

“You were always meant for great things, Skye, don’t get me wrong.” Dr. Emery replied. “I started the Project with the intent of saving lives… specifically those ravaged by disease. And even though Gerald Selfridge attempted to corrupt the program by militarizing it and trying to turn you into a living weapon, you’ve found a way to live up to what the Project was meant to be by saving lives in your own way.”

“But, you have to understand that you can’t let that success get to your head. The singular vision of bringing the miracle of life to those that need it most should always come first above everything.”

Things were beginning to become crystal clear for Skye. The continued claims of Selfridge and the operatives that worked for him of wanting to capture Skye so that she could “achieve” Singularity always seemed to mean nothing but bad news in her mind. But now, thanks to the revelations she discovered about her origins these past two days, Skye seemed to understand what her true calling in life was.

The spectral Dr. Emery began to draw up a very familiar symbol in front of Skye… one that haunted her as much as SDI’s endless hunt for her did: the stylized arrowhead sigil that seemed to be in the back of her mind more often than not. Interestingly, the symbol dispersed into a simplified tree of life design that had a central circle with multiple branches sticking out into other smaller circles.

“Your greatest strength was never the superhuman abilities you were gifted with, Skye… it’s always been your compassion. Your courage. Your refusal to accept the fate that my former peers at SDI had intended for you. It’s those qualities that have made you who you are.” Dr. Emery’s visage beamed with what seemed to be the pride that the real Emery had for her surrogate daughter. She might’ve just been a creation inside Skye’s mind, but there was little doubt in the twenty year-old that the words she was hearing were reflective of the real Dr. Emery’s opinions about her daughter.

Before she could take in the words of Dr. Emery, the unwelcome sight of Skye’s shadow doppelganger materialized once more, now looking even more demonic than usual. Its eyes were now glowing red, with razor-sharp teeth lining its mouth and the SDI uniform it was wearing now in tatters.

Skye again assumed a fighting stance, prepared to take on this dark illusion her mind had created. “Please stay back, mom… I’ll protect you from whatever the hell this thing that has my face is.”

Dr. Emery said nothing as she watched Skye rush into battle against her foe.

While Skye’s desire to fight her dark clone was strong, the same really couldn’t be said for actually fighting it. For every attack that Skye tried to hit her clone with, said duplicate managed to match it exactly.

Actual Skye was clearly trying her best to stay in this fight, but her strength was now starting to fail her at this most inopportune time. Her usually-fluent fighting style began to look like the complete opposite as she whiffed with every punch and kick. That made it easy for that evil, demonic Skye duplicate to brutally tear apart the original article with ease.

With Mirror Skye looming over her menacingly and ready to presumably finish her off, Actual Skye still refused to surrender, even as she was badly injured. She was going to fight to the bitter end, no matter what.

“Gotta… ugh… keep fightin’… agh.. c-can’t give up…” Skye strained through the agony she was feeling at the hands of her duplicate foe. She tried to rise back up to her feet, but her body just didn’t have the strength to do so anymore. “My friends… I can’t let them down… agh… they need m– unh…”

Skye’s deranged doppelganger dug its sharp claws right into her back, impaling the twenty year-old with such force that it practically immobilized her. Even as she was losing blood rapidly, Skye was still trying to power through the pain, so that she could overcome this grave obstacle standing in the way of answers.

“Unh…. nnnnngh….” Skye was on the cusp of possibly losing her life in this comatose state, but she still had a bit of strength left to weakly reach out to Dr. Emery’s visage. Yes, Skye knew that the visage wasn’t real, but Dr. Emery was the last thing left for her to draw hope from against an enemy that showed no quarter.

Skye was beginning to cry yet again as she looked towards Dr. Emery, disappointed that she was failing her mother by letting herself be beaten like this. She was distraught that even with her efforts to keep her fears about her true nature at bay, she still couldn’t find away to overcome them once and for all.

 _“I’m sorry, mom… I’m sorry, Finn… I’m sorry, Ava….”_ The twenty year-old tearfully apologized to the people she cared about for failing them when they needed her the most.  _“I’m sorry I failed everyone….”_

“Skye… you need to realize that this is something you can’t just punch your way out of,” Dr. Emery spoke as Skye was being sliced apart by her foe.  “Like with the zombies from earlier, this warped mirror copy of you is nothing more but your own worst fears about Project Singularity and your abilities brought to life. This whole thing your mind has created has never been about winning some meaningless physical battle. It’s always been about finding a way to overcome whatever doubts you’ve had about what truly defines you.”

“Remember what I told you earlier, Skye. Remember what you’ve learned through your own experiences. Your strength lies from what’s inside your heart, not from what flows in your blood.”

Still at the mercy of the literal representation of her inner demons, Skye closed her eyes and allowed her mind to be at peace for a moment as Dr. Emery’s words lingered in her head. Skye was beginning to remember the many times she had used her unique abilities to save lives. The faces of various people grateful for her intervention flashed by quickly, but she now knew who they were. She saw Finn and Ava’s smiling faces and the times she got to know the both of them better beyond being in perpetual peril. Once she opened her eyes to face the imagined reality in front of her, Skye had a realization.

The weakness that was plaguing Skye slowly began to disappear. She soon had enough of her strength to pull herself back up and give her duplicate enemy an elbow to its face. The wounds she had suffered also began to heal up — much like what was supposedly happening to her body back in reality.

“For most of my life, I’ve never understood who or what the hell I was supposed to be…” Skye began to talk, her voice sounding as serene as it had ever been — but remaining firm. “I’ve always struggled to embrace who I was because I always felt incomplete… like there was something that was missing from me. Now I know what defines me.”

Skye loosened her fists and began to lower them from the fighting stance that she formerly took — not because she was giving up, but because she was ready to accept the advice that Dr. Emery was giving.

The burning cityscape began to dissolve into a representation of the cave and forest area in Killarney Provincial Park — the place where Dr. Emery took Skye after her creation to raise her as a baby. The chaotic sounds of fires burning were supplanted by peaceful ambience as the night sky above Skye and her mirrored enemy shifted into a swirl of constellations.

“I accept that I can’t change what I am…” Skye looked towards Dr. Emery’s visage before facing her doppelganger dead-on. “…but I can work towards becoming the best of who I am.”

Skye kicked aside her duplicate before looking at it once again with that signature stare of quiet determination in her eyes. Even if this was just a coma-induced vision she was having due to healing from a near-fatal injury, Skye was not going to let herself be beaten by a manifestation of her self-doubt. She had been through so much anguish that only served to make her stronger and wiser. Now, Skye was ready to apply what she had learned through these experiences.

“I might be nothing more but an artificial superhuman, but my abilities don’t define me alone — how I choose to live my life does. I’ll never stop being there for Finn. I’ll never stop fighting for Ava. I’ll never ever give up on myself. Not as long as I have hope in the endless possibilities I’m capable of — with or without my powers.”

Skye stood on her two feet proudly, having come to an understanding of the good that she had been able to achieve throughout her life as an artificially-created superhuman.

At the same time, her copy slowly began to lose its demonic features. It now looked more like a literal monochrome, mirror version of Skye more than anything else. The mirror copy completely stopped in its tracks — apparently dropping all pretenses of any hostility.

“So yeah, I’m Subject SK-591 or whatever… I’m the first and only success of Project Singularity… I’m even the ‘Child of Hope’ to some people… but most importantly: I’m Skye Emery, and there’s nothing anybody can do to me that will ever change that.”

Dr. Emery’s visage looked on silently, pleased with her surrogate daughter’s moment of clarity — concise proof of her nurture over the years becoming fully realized and winning out over the brutal, miltaristic nature that SDI intended for Skye.

“This is who I am now. This is who I choose to be.”

As soon as Skye loosened up her stance, Mirror Skye faded into bits of dark light that converged and flew into the real Skye’s body. Just like that, the scars inflicted on Skye by her double had now completely disappeared.

“Well, that was just bizarre.” Skye said dryly, still a bit unbelieving of what she just experienced. “Finn and Ava are never gonna believe this if I get to tell them about it.”

“Speaking of Finn and Ava…” Dr. Emery interjected as she stood beside Skye. “…isn’t it about time you returned to their side in the real world?”

Right as Dr. Emery said those words, Skye’s memories returned to the fateful night in 2001 where she was alone for the first time in her then-five-year-old life… the very same night she apparently relived not too long ago during this bizarre journey into her very psyche.

“There’s just so much I want to know… that I have to know.” Skye said as her voice started to break down. Even if the Dr. Emery she was seeing here was just something she was just imagining in her head, she didn’t want to be left behind again. 

“Please don’t leave me.…”

“You’ll find those answers in due time,” the spectral form of Dr. Emery replied. “But for now, your friends need you now more than ever, Skye. They need your help to put an end to what Selfridge corrupted my original Project into.”

“As you said, this is who you are now. This is your life now. This is your future, Skye. And it’s yours to build upon it how you see fit.”

Dr. Emery reached out and put her hand on Skye’s forehead. With tears beginning to well up in her eyes, Skye leaned closer to Dr. Emery and gave the visualization of her surrogate mother a loving embrace. Skye was essentially hugging a ghost, yet it still felt satisfyingly as real as an actual gesture of love.

The doctor’s hug felt foreign, yet warmly familiar… and there was a part of Skye that wished she could stay here and get to know Dr. Emery better than she ever did in her fractured childhood. Maybe it was better to be away from the endless nightmare of SDI and the conspiracy that continually tortured her and to live out the rest of her life with her “mother”… even if it was just an illusion.

But, Skye knew better than that. She knew that she had to bring herself back to reality, because she still had to save her friends and stop SDI’s reborn Project Singularity. Skye realized that she wasn’t going to get anywhere if she just remained in this fantasy forever. She made a promise to Ava and Finn to be there for them whenever they needed her and she wasn’t about to turn her back on her friends — as tempting as it sounded.

“I believe in you, Skye.” Dr. Emery whispered quietly before she faded into nothingness, her words of encouragement echoing in Skye’s ears as a bright light completely engulfed the young superhuman — sweeping her away from this dream state, and hopefully returning her back among the living.

—

“We can’t hold these guys off forever, Finn!” Ava hollered while trying to hold the pink energy bubble she conjured up in order to prevent Selfridge’s Genetic Extractors from taking Skye’s body.

“Ava… we have to keep on going. We gotta protect Skye’s body…. and if we go down here, let’s give these SDI thugs one hell of a fight.” Finn shouted as he continued to shoot his plasma cannon at the oncoming Extractors.

Right as the Extractors began to move in for the kill, they were collectively caught off-guard by a slab of metal flying right through them. With sharp precision, the metal piece literally cut through Extractors Delta and Alpha, while doing additional damage to the rest of Selfridge’s super-soldier army.  The two Extractors’ bodies were sliced in half as a result of the piece of metal that cut through them like a knife.

Finn and Ava both looked up to see where that flying piece of metal came from and they were more ecstatic with what they saw.

With renewed strength and resolve, Skye defied death and was now alive again. She stood strong and ready for a new fight. That gaping chest wound inflicted on Skye by Super-Soldier Omega had completely healed up miraculously thanks to her healing abilities kicking into overdrive to keep her alive, even as a metaphorical war was raging inside her mind.

“What kept you?” Finn asked with a smile of relief on his face.

“Oh, nothing but a little family reunion…” Skye gave a knowing nod to her friend. “….a reunion that involved literally kicking my own ass.”

Finn shot a look of slight confusion at Skye’s remarks, completely unaware about the metaphorical battle that was raging on in his friend’s mind as she was recovering from her near-fatal wounds.

“I know, it sounds crazy, but I’ll explain later…” Skye said while removing her stolen SDI combat uniform to reveal a white tanktop underneath. “…right now, I’ve got a score to settle with these Genetic Extractors.”

“RE-ADJUSTING TARGET” Extractor Beta’s mechanized voice called out, causing the remaining Extractors to fall in line behind him. They activated their weaponry while making their approach towards Skye.

Standing as confident in her abilities as she had never been before, Skye simply motioned for the Genetic Extractors to “bring it”. This was a newfound air of confidence that didn’t really seem to manifest itself within Skye the previous time she encountered the Extractors, when she wasn’t exactly at her best due to being nearly stripped of her extraordinary abilities by a suppressant dust.

It was now a completely different ballgame this time around.

Beta activated his jet thrusters to charge right into Skye, but that made no difference since he just got clotheslined by the twenty year-old right as he flew in her direction. Skye punched through Beta’s head to effectively shut him down.

“Those things aren’t even human… they’re just androids!” Finn exclaimed while watching Skye dismantle Beta like a piece of scrap.

“I think I got the hint when I literally put my fist through his head,” Skye said as she launched Gamma several feet in the air with a two-footed kick. “Thanks for the heads up, though. Means I won’t have to hold back against the rest of these tin cans.”

Indeed, Skye was now free to use all of her superhuman strength and skill to slug it out against the Genetic Extractors that were still active. She picked up the chest armor from Beta’s destroyed body and used it to block laser fire from Epsilon before charging at the fully-armed Extractor with an exhilirating burst of speed.

The resulting collision caused Skye to rip through Epsilon in half as a result of the force from her forward momentum.

“TARGET ACQUIRED – PREPARING LETHAL COUNTERMEASURES” Gamma declared while activating his shoulder rockets. His internal targeting systems remained focused on Skye, who was still finishing off what remained of Epsilon.

Before he could fire whatever weapons he had to eliminate the target, Gamma’s head disintegrated in a ball of pink energy right as his armored shell collapsed into pieces. Skye looked down at the remains of the last Genetic Extractor before turning her head to where Ava was standing. She gave her teenaged friend a small nod for the assist.

Finn and Ava made their way towards Skye, both expressing their joy at her apparent resurrection from the dead.

“You always seem to have a knack for dramatically saving our asses…” Finn stood himself back up and awkwardly gave Skye a hug.

“I could never let you or Ava get hurt,” Skye said sincerely. “Not now. Not ever.”

Ava was speechless, but she was more than happy to see Skye alive and well — a fact that was quite clear when she gave Skye the biggest hug she had ever given anyone in her life.

While Skye knew that her work wasn’t done just yet, she couldn’t resist returning the affectionate favor when it came to hugging Ava right back. She had endured the worst that her mind had to offer and a hug from a friend was something Skye was grateful for.

“I think I speak for both me and Ava when I say that we’re really glad you’re alive, Skye.” Finn beamed with rejoice at his friend’s miraculous recovery.

“…thanks for the kind sentiments, both of you.” Skye was overwhelmed with happiness, if only for a brief moment, before getting right back to business as she picked up a discarded SDI tablet off the ground. “Right now, though, we’re not done here yet.”

“Selfridge still has his eyes on my blood and creating his super-soldier army. I’m not resting until we put a stop to his mad ambitions once and for all.”

—

**_Gerald Selfridge’s Office – 1400 hours_ **

“This cannot be possible….” Mr. Selfridge’s anger was beginning to build up as he saw Skye destroying his Genetic Extractors effortlessly through the panel of screens behind his desk. “My perfect tools, ripped apart like they were scrap metal. My ultimate weapon neutralized by a mere child. All my plans coming apart at the seams… this was not supposed to happen!”

“I did warn you that you wouldn’t be able to take Skye down so easily…” Dr. Antrovich, who was still inside Selfridge’s office on orders from the SDI CEO, remarked. “She’s more focused than ever to end this whole thing you’ve envis–”

“I think you have said quite enough, doctor.” Selfridge shut down Dr. Antrovich before she could say anymore. “Everything I have thrown at SK-591 has failed, but she will not put an end to what I have started. Not when I am coming so close to achieving my goals.”

Selfridge turned his attention to the screen showing the room of prospective super-soldiers lying dormant within their chambers, all awaiting to be infused with just a small portion of Skye’s blood to fully give them the abilities and strength needed to be the army that Selfridge wanted them to be.

“If I have to draw blood from the Subject myself…” Selfridge said while tracing an arrowhead onto the freeform digital screen on his desk. “…then so be it.”

A panel on the wall split open to reveal a suit of armour, presumably one that was made for Selfridge’s own use. This armour was primarily in blue and black — the “official” company colors for SDI Genomics — with three glowing blue cores on either shoulder and at the centre. One single visor/helmet hybrid was meant to provide the only head protection deemed necessary for operational use.  The SDI CEO stepped in front of the panel while the armour split open to allow for him to wear it. The process of armour merging with Selfridge’s body was an agonizing process that left him screaming as every metallic portion of the armor pierced through his business attire so that it could connect with his skin. Once the armour fully assembled around Selfridge, he was feeling like he had found new strength that wasn’t possible for him before.

Selfridge pressed a button on the wrist compartment of his armour, which caused the massive screen behind his desk to shutter off. The lights inside the small office soon turned off as the lightweight armour Selfridge was equipped with started illuminating in a brighter shade of blue.

“How do you like my latest innovation, Doctor?” Selfridge’s voice took on a more distorted, mechanized tone due to his merger with the armour and now having apparent control over the entire Base Alpha facility itself.

“While I still seek SK-591’s blood to strengthen myself and the new Project Singularity, I am not foolish enough to engage her without any strength. This armour not only gives me power I was previously unavailable to attain, it has given me full control of this very facility. As it stands now,  _I_  am Base Alpha, and SK-591 will soon find that out for herself.”

As Selfridge grinned wickedly at his newfound strength, he trained his wrist gauntlet at the one target he knew he could take out to test his armor’s offensive capabilities.

With one blast of actinium energy, Dr. Antrovich was knocked into unconsciousness while Selfridge’s laughter was the last thing she heard before fading to darkness.


	2. Act I

**Act I - I Believe in You**

**_SDI Base Alpha Armory - January 29th, 2016 - 1345 hours_ **

Inside the top-secret weapons development section of SDI’s Base Alpha, the situation grew dire for Finn and Ava as they were still trying to recover both physically and mentally from seeing Skye die at the hands of SDI’s so-called “ultimate” weapon of mass destruction. To make matters worse, Mr. Selfridge sent for his Genetic Extractors to attack their exact location in the hopes of getting a sample of Skye’s blood for his own selfish uses -- namely, his attempt to cultivate a new army of Project Singularity super-soldiers, as well as using it to prolong his life.

“Ava… I know you’re terrified right now, and really, I don’t blame you because of what happened to Skye...” Finn tried to motivate her young friend. “...but I need you to focus because we’re about to be fed to SDI’s piranhas if we don’t do something.”

Wiping away tears from her face, Ava nodded and began to ball up her fist to summon the amazing energy powers she was gifted with at birth. Soon, her hands were completely covered in pink energy that was bright enough to illuminate the large Armory room. On cue, she threw a single powerful blast right at the approaching SDI soldiers, who fell down from the sheer force of Ava’s light.

Despite that momentary advantage, more SDI soldiers poured through the Armory entrance, with the armored Genetic Extractors emerging to lead the charge. The five enhanced super-soldiers under Selfridge’s command had two primary directives: 1. Eliminate Remaining Resistance / 2. Extract The Subject’s Blood.

As the SDI soldiers began to fire away at Finn and Ava, they dragged Skye’s lifeless body behind a small tower of crates that provided temporary cover from the gunfire blazing at them.

Finn noticed a large silver cannon with blue energy pulsating from the glass casings contained within it lying about right beside the crate he and Ava were hiding behind. He reached out cautiously to take the cannon, narrowly avoiding having his arms getting shot at.

“Do you know how to use that, Finn?” Ava asked with wonder about the weapon her friend was wielding.

Finn pressed a button on the cannon to activate it. The blue energy within the cannon began to glow brightly. Realizing that he was armed and ready to use the cannon however he could, Finn aimed it at the oncoming SDI soldiers and fired away. The recoil from the cannon caught him off guard, knocking him back slightly, but the blast of energy sent the SDI soldiers flying all about.

“Oh-ho-ho-ho…..” Finn grinned at the firepower he now had before firing again with the cannon, blasting aside even more SDI soldiers with it.

“Someone looks like they’re havin’ fun…” Ava remarked at Finn’s sharpshooting with the plasma cannon before joining along with some energy blasts of her own. While they were both easily able to turn away the regular SDI soldiers, the same couldn’t be said for their efforts against the oncoming Genetic Extractors.

The five enhanced drones under Gerald Selfridge’s command soon stood at the front of the Armory entrance after the remaining SDI soldiers fell. They began to scan the Armory for their targets in order to accomplish the mission assigned to them.

Ava tried to get a peek at the Extractors, but Finn soon got her to stay behind the crates to avoid detection.

“Stay low for the moment…” Finn instructed. “...and let’s hope that there’s some last-second miracle that can help us here.”

\---

**_The Middle of Nowhere_ **

Skye felt herself breathing once again. Maybe she wasn’t dead just yet. She soon opened her eyes, finding that she was no longer inside the Armory of SDI’s Base Alpha complex. Instead, Skye found herself in a world devoid of any life -- or color, for that matter. The only thing that seemed to exist was a vast, empty world where Skye appeared to be the only living thing in existence.

Instinctively, Skye looked down at her chest to see if she was still fatally wounded, but that gaping laceration she suffered at the hands of SDI's Super-Soldier Omega seemingly vanished without any trace. She then put her hand across her left wrist, finding out right away that her skin felt cold as if she were dead -- even though she clearly was not deceased. That seemed to give her a hint that something was off about all this right away.

“Finn? Ava?” Skye’s voice echoed through the expanse of nothingness, but there was no reply from either of them. “....where are you guys? Anyone here?”

The minutes began to pass, as Skye soon realized that she was alone in this empty world without any idea what was going on.

 _“Okay, this is just beyond weird now….”_ Skye mused as she kicked aside a discarded empty can that flew all the way to god-knows-where.

Before she could dwell on her friends’ whereabouts, the smell of burning ember caught Skye’s attention. She cautiously followed the scent to find herself in the ruins of an unidentified city… right in the middle of a sight that greatly disturbed her.

A pile of dead bodies loomed right in front of Skye -- all maimed and mangled beyond recognition -- but it was the bodies of two certain individuals that seemed to trigger an emotional reaction.

“No… no…. This can’t be real….” Skye shook her head in disbelief once she realize whose dead bodies were right in front of her at this moment.

She knelt over and saw Finn and Ava’s bloodied corpses, both killed by the hands of an unknown entity. Her heart was already beating at an abnormal rate -- further exacerbated by seeing her two friends dead. She had no idea what the hell was going on.

Left stunned in shock at what she was seeing, Skye cradled Ava’s dead body and began to weep, realizing that she failed in her vow to protect her friends. But that despair once again was replaced with confusion when Ava’s body crumbled into indistinct black ashes.

Skye looked towards the figure that stood in the middle of the circle of fire, slowly approaching it with some trepidation. Once she got closer to the fire, Skye got a better look of the person that stood alone in the flames and was left aghast by what she saw.

The figure in the fire was Skye herself… only looking a lot more like Selfridge’s intended visions for her as a Project Singularity super-soldier more than the compassionate young woman she thought herself to be. This other Skye was dressed in an all-black military uniform bearing the SDI logo on its shoulders, with her purple/pink hair substituted by black and red, and a much more empty expression on her face, devoid of any kindness whatsoever.

 _“Oh, I really don’t have time for this vision quest crap…”_ Skye surmised to herself as the mirror version of herself prepared to charge towards her. She stood ready for a fight, like she always did.

The dark mirror Skye tilted her head towards the original and slowly began to train her gun towards her target.

 _“I’ve never been afraid to beat myself up, but this seems a bit too literal.”_ Skye muttered, still slightly confused about having to take on a faux version of herself.

Her dreams were usually on the bizarre side, but whatever it was Skye was experiencing at the moment took the cake when it came to the strange happenings that surrounded everything around her. This was something else altogether.

Before she could fight against the mirror copy of herself, said duplicate dispersed into an infinite amount of dark particles that completely engulfed Skye. In mere moments, the twenty year-old superhuman found herself surrounded by the endless reaches of outer space.

One of the stars began to glow brightly before a flash of light briefly blinded Skye for a moment. Once the light dissipated, the star began to take on a humanoid form, revealing itself to be Dr. Elizabeth Emery, the ex-SDI geneticist who helped create Skye over two decades ago.

Skye was speechless, unsure of what to make of seeing her surrogate mother in this ethereal form inside her mind.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to be afraid anymore…” Dr. Emery started to speak with a heavenly echo accompanying her voice. “I’m here for you, Skye.”

“Is it… is it really you?” Skye was filled with wonder and awe at what she was experiencing right now. “....mom?”

“Unfortunately, I’m only a representation of the real Elizabeth Emery that exists inside your mind, Skye.” Dr. Emery spoke with regret. “In reality, your body’s healing factor attempting to heal extensive injuries you’ve recently sustained. You’re on the brink of death."

It didn’t take long for Skye to flash back to the moment she lost consciousness -- when she seemingly sacrificed her life to protect Ava from one of Selfridge’s monstrous super-soldiers. That’s when she realized that she really wasn’t dead yet.

“I’m proud of what you’ve turned out to be…” Dr. Emery’s voice turned to one of utmost pride for Skye. “You’ve grown into such a compassionate young woman, despite what my former SDI peers tried to do to you.”

“...actually, I’ve always wanted to ask you about that, Doctor…” Skye responded with a question of her own. “Why me? What made me such a special case that I ended up like I did?”

“You were always meant for great things, Skye,” Dr. Emery said. “I started the Project with the intent of saving lives… specifically those ravaged by disease. And even though Gerald Selfridge attempted to corrupt the program by militarizing it and trying to turn you into a living weapon, you’ve found a way to live up to what the Project was meant to be by saving lives in your own way.”

“It was always all about achieving a singular vision of bringing the miracle of life to those who needed it most.”

Things were beginning to become crystal clear for Skye. The continued claims of Selfridge and the operatives that worked for him of wanting to capture Skye so that she could “achieve” Singularity always seemed to mean nothing but bad news in her mind. But now, thanks to the revelations she discovered about her origins these past two days, Skye seemed to understand what her true calling in life was.

The spectral Dr. Emery began to draw up a very familiar symbol in front of Skye… one that haunted her as much as SDI’s endless hunt for her did: the stylized arrowhead sigil that seemed to be in the back of her mind more often than not. Interestingly, the symbol dispersed into a simplified tree of life design that had a central circle with multiple branches sticking out into other smaller circles.

“Your greatest strength was never the superhuman abilities you were gifted with, Skye… it’s always been your compassion. Your courage. Your refusal to accept the fate that my former peers at SDI had intended for you. It’s those qualities that have made you who you are.”

Before she could take in the words of Dr. Emery, the unwelcome sight of Skye’s shadow doppelganger materialized once more, now looking even more demonic than usual. Its eyes were now glowing red, with razor-sharp teeth lining its mouth and the SDI uniform it was wearing now in tatters.

Skye again assumed a fighting stance, prepared to take on this dark illusion her mind had created. “Please stay back, Doctor… I’ll protect you from whatever the hell this thing that has my face is.”

Dr. Emery said nothing, but gave a simple nod of approval to her surrogate daughter.

While Skye’s desire to fight her dark clone was strong, the same really couldn’t be said for actually fighting it. For every attack that Skye tried to hit her clone with, said duplicate managed to match it exactly.

Actual Skye was clearly trying her best to stay in this fight, but her strength was now starting to fail her at this most inopportune time. Her usually-fluent fighting style began to look like the complete opposite as she whiffed with every punch, allowing for Skye’s mirror clone to maul her effortlessly.

With Mirror Skye looming over her menacingly and ready to presumably finish her off, Actual Skye still refused to surrender, even as she was badly injured. She was going to fight to the bitter end, like always.

Dr. Emery’s visage looked on at the fight with great concern for her adopted daughter’s well-being. That’s when Emery realized that she knew just how exactly she could help Skye win this battle.

“Skye… you need to realize that this is something you can’t just fight your way out of,” Emery hovered over where the twenty  year-old artificial human was being beaten down. “Your opponent here is nothing more but your own worst fears about Project Singularity and your abilities brought to life. There’s only way you can win against your self-doubt.”

“Remember what I told you earlier, Skye. Look within yourself to find your true strength.”

Still at the mercy of the literal representation of her inner demons, Skye closed her eyes and allowed her mind to be at peace for a moment as Dr. Emery’s words lingered. She saw Finn and Ava’s smiling faces and the times she got to know the both of them better beyond being in perpetual peril. Once she opened her eyes to face the imagined reality in front of her, Skye had a realization.

“For most of my life, I’ve never understood what being alive truly meant to me.” Skye began to talk, her voice sounding as serene as it had ever been -- but remaining firm. “But now, it’s perfectly clear. Everything makes sense now.”

“I’ve always struggled to embrace who I was because I always felt incomplete… like there was something that was missing from me. Now I know what defines me.”

Skye unclenched her fist and began to loosen herself up -- not because she was giving up, but because she was ready to accept the advice that Dr. Emery was giving.

“I accept that I can’t change what I am…” Skye looked towards Dr. Emery’s visage before facing her doppelganger dead-on. “...but I can work towards becoming the best of who I am.”

Skye kicked aside her duplicate before pulling herself back up. That signature stare of quiet determination in her eyes returned once again. Even if this was just a coma-induced vision she was having due to healing from a near-fatal injury, Skye was not going to let herself be beaten by a manifestation of her self-doubt.

“I might be nothing more but an artificial superhuman, but my abilities don’t define me alone -- how I choose to live my life does. I’ll never stop being there for Finn. I’ll never stop fighting for Ava. I’ll never ever give up on myself. Not as long as I have hope in the endless possibilities I’m capable of -- with or without my powers.”

With that last sentence, Skye got up from her knees and now stood on her two feet proudly. There was an understanding building within her that seemed to culminate to its highest point now more than ever.

At the same time, her copy slowly began to lose its demonic features. It now looked more like a literal monochrome, mirror version of Skye more than anything else. The mirror copy completely stopped in its tracks -- apparently dropping all pretenses of any hostility.

“So yeah, I’m Subject SK-591 or whatever… I’m the first and only success of Project Singularity… I’m even the ‘Child of Hope’ to some people… but most importantly: I’m Skye, and there’s nothing anybody can do to me that will change that.”

Dr. Emery looked on silently, pleased with her surrogate daughter’s moment of clarity -- concise proof of her nurture over the years becoming fully realized and winning out over the brutal, miltaristic nature that SDI intended for Skye.

“This is who I am now. This is who I choose to be.”

As soon as Skye loosened up her stance, Mirror Skye faded into bits of dark light that converged and flew into the real Skye’s body. Just like that, the scars inflicted on Skye by her double slowly disappeared.

“Well, that was just bizarre.” Skye said dryly, still a bit unbelieving of what she just experienced. “Finn and Ava are never gonna believe this if I get to tell them about it.”

“Speaking of Finn and Ava…” Dr. Emery interjected as she stood beside Skye. “...isn’t it about time you returned to their side in the real world?”

Right as Dr. Emery said those words, Skye’s memories returned to the fateful night in 2001 where she was alone for the first time in her then-five-year-old life. It was on June 2nd, 2001 that Emery vanished mysteriously, leaving an emotionally-vulnerable Skye to fend for herself from that point on.

“There’s just so much I want to know… that I have to know.” Skye said as her voice started to break down. Even if the Dr. Emery she was seeing here was just something she was just imagining in her head, she didn’t want to be left behind again.

“Please don’t leave me.…”

“You’ll find those answers in due time,” the spectral form of Dr. Emery replied. “But for now, your friends need you now more than ever, Skye. They need your help to put an end to what Selfridge corrupted my original Project into.”

“As you said, this is who you are now. This is your life now. This is your future, Skye. And it’s yours to build upon.”

Dr. Emery reached out and put her hand on Skye’s forehead. With tears beginning to well up in her eyes, Skye leaned closer to Dr. Emery and gave the visualization of her surrogate mother a loving embrace. Skye was essentially hugging a ghost, yet it still felt satisfyingly as real as an actual gesture of love.

The doctor’s hug felt foreign, yet warmly familiar… and there was a part of Skye that wished she could stay here and get to know Dr. Emery better than she ever did in her fractured childhood. Maybe it was better to be away from the endless nightmare of SDI and the conspiracy that continually tortured her and to live out the rest of her life with her “mother”... even if it was just an illusion.

Luckily, Skye knew she had to bring herself back to reality, because she still had to save her friends and stop SDI’s reborn Project Singularity. Skye realized that she wasn’t going to get anywhere if she just remained in this fantasy forever. She made a promise to Ava and Finn to be there for them whenever they needed her and she wasn’t about to turn her back on her friends -- as tempting as it sounded.

“I believe in you, Skye.” Dr. Emery whispered quietly before she faded into nothingness, her words of encouragement echoing in Skye’s ears.

A few of the stars within the vast empty space coalesced into a shape resembling a door, which soon opened by itself. That was the cue for Skye to finally wake herself up from this coma and be the person she resolved to be.

\---

“We can’t hold these guys off forever, Finn!” Ava hollered while trying to hold the pink energy bubble she conjured up in order to prevent Selfridge’s Genetic Extractors from taking Skye’s body.

“Ava… we have to keep on going. We can’t let any of these SDI thugs even get close to Skye’s body.” Finn shouted as he continued to shoot his plasma cannon at the oncoming Extractors.

Right as the Extractors began to move in for the kill, they were collectively caught off-guard by a slab of metal flying right through them. With sharp precision, the metal piece literally cut through Extractors Delta and Alpha, while doing additional damage to the rest of Selfridge’s super-soldier army.

Finn and Ava both looked up to see where that flying piece of metal came from and they were more ecstatic with what they saw.

Like a bolt from the blue, Skye was back among the living. She stood strong and ready for a new fight.

That gaping chest wound inflicted on Skye by Super-Soldier Omega had completely healed up miraculously thanks to her healing abilities kicking into overdrive to keep her alive.

“What kept you?” Finn asked with a smile of relief on his face.

“Oh, nothing but a little family reunion…” Skye gave a knowing nod to her friend. “....a reunion that involved literally kicking my own ass.”

Finn shot a look of slight confusion at Skye’s remarks, completely unaware about the metaphorical battle that was raging on in his friend’s mind as she was recovering from her near-fatal wounds.

“I’ll explain later…” Skye said while removing her stolen SDI combat uniform to reveal a white tanktop underneath. “...right now, I’ve got a score to settle with these Genetic Extractors.”

“RE-ADJUSTING TARGET” Extractor Beta’s mechanized voice called out, causing the remaining Extractors to fall in line behind him. They activated their weaponry while making their approach towards Skye.

Standing as confident in her abilities as she had never been before, Skye simply motioned for the Genetic Extractors to “bring it”. This was a newfound air of confidence that didn’t really seem to manifest itself within Skye the previous time she encountered the Extractors, when she wasn’t exactly at her best due to being nearly stripped of her extraordinary abilities by a suppressant dust.

It was now a completely different ballgame this time around.

Beta activated his jet thrusters to charge right into Skye, but that made no difference since he just got clotheslined by the twenty year-old right as he flew in her direction. Skye punched through Beta’s head to effectively shut him down.

“Those things aren’t even human… they’re just androids!” Finn exclaimed while watching Skye dismantle Beta like a piece of scrap.

“I think I got the hint when I literally put my fist through his head,” Skye said while she launched Gamma several feet in the air with a two-footed kick. “Thanks for the heads up, though. Means I won’t have to hold back against the rest of these tin cans.”

Indeed, Skye was now free to use all of her superhuman strength and skill to slug it out against the Genetic Extractors that were still active. She picked up the chest armor from Beta’s destroyed body and used it to block laser fire from Epsilon before charging at the fully-armed Extractor with a strong burst of speed.

The resulting collision caused Skye to rip through Epsilon in half as a result of the force from her forward momentum.

“TARGET ACQUIRED - PREPARING LETHAL COUNTERMEASURES” Gamma declared while activating his shoulder rockets. His internal targeting systems remained focused on Skye, who was still finishing off what remained of Epsilon.

Before he could fire whatever weapons he had to eliminate the target, Gamma’s head disintegrated in a ball of pink energy right as his armored shell collapsed into pieces. Skye looked down at the remains of the last Genetic Extractor before turning her head to where Ava was standing. She gave her teenaged friend a small nod for the assist.

Finn and Ava made their way towards Skye, both expressing their joy at her apparent resurrection from the dead.

“You always seem to have a knack for dramatically saving our asses…” Finn stood himself back up and awkwardly gave Skye a hug.

“I could never let you or Ava get hurt,” Skye said sincerely. “Not now. Not ever.”

Ava was speechless, but she was more than happy to see Skye alive and well -- a fact that was quite clear when she gave Skye the biggest hug she had ever given anyone in her life.

While Skye knew that her work wasn’t done just yet, she couldn’t resist returning the affectionate favor when it came to hugging Ava right back. It was like being wrapped in a warm blanket in many ways.

“I think I speak for both me and Ava when I say that we’re really glad you’re alive, Skye.” Finn beamed with rejoice at his friend’s miraculous recovery.

“...thanks for the kind sentiments, both of you.” Skye was overwhelmed with happiness, if only for a brief moment, before getting right back to business as she picked up a discarded SDI tablet off the ground. “Right now, though, we’re not done here yet.”

“Selfridge still has his eyes on my blood and creating his super-soldier army. I’m not resting until we put a stop to his mad ambitions once and for all.”

\---

**_Gerald Selfridge’s Office - 1400 hours_ **

“This cannot be possible....” Mr. Selfridge’s anger was beginning to build up as he saw Skye destroying his Genetic Extractors effortlessly through the panel of screens behind his desk. “My perfect tools, ripped apart like they were scrap metal. My ultimate weapon neutralized by a mere child. All my plans coming apart at the seams… this was not supposed to happen!”

“I did warn you that you wouldn’t be able to take Skye down so easily…” Dr. Antrovich, who was still inside Selfridge’s office on orders from the SDI CEO, remarked. “She’s more focused than ever to end this whole thing you’ve envis--”

“I think you have said quite enough, doctor.” Selfridge shut down Dr. Antrovich before she could say anymore. “Everything I have thrown at SK-591 has failed, but she will not put an end to what I have started. Not when I am coming so close to achieving my goals.”

Selfridge turned his attention to the screen showing the room of prospective super-soldiers lying dormant within their chambers, all awaiting to be infused with just a small portion of Skye’s blood to fully give them the abilities and strength needed to be the army that Selfridge wanted them to be.

“If I have to draw blood from the Subject myself…” Selfridge said while tracing an arrowhead onto the freeform digital screen on his desk. “...then so be it.”

A panel on the wall split open to reveal a suit of armour, presumably one that was made for Selfridge’s own use. This armour was primarily in blue and black -- the “official” company colors for SDI Genomics -- with three glowing blue cores on either shoulder and at the centre. One single visor/helmet hybrid was meant to provide the only head protection deemed necessary for operational use.  The SDI CEO stepped in front of the panel while the armour split open to allow for him to wear it. The process of armour merging with Selfridge’s body was an agonizing process that left him screaming as every metallic portion of the armor pierced through his business attire so that it could connect with his skin. Once the armour fully assembled around Selfridge, he was feeling like he had found new strength that wasn’t possible for him before.

Selfridge pressed a button on the wrist compartment of his armour, which caused the massive screen behind his desk to shutter off. The lights inside the small office soon turned off as the lightweight armour Selfridge was equipped with started illuminating in a brighter shade of blue.

“How do you like my latest innovation, Doctor?” Selfridge’s voice took on a more distorted, mechanized tone due to his merger with the armour and now having apparent control over the entire Base Alpha facility itself.

“While I still seek SK-591’s blood to strengthen myself and the new Project Singularity, I am not foolish enough to engage her without any strength. This armour not only gives me power I was previously unavailable to attain, it has given me full control of this very facility. As it stands now, _I_ am Base Alpha, and SK-591 will soon find that out for herself.”

As Selfridge grinned wickedly at his newfound strength, he trained his wrist gauntlet at the one target he knew he could take out to test his armor’s offensive capabilities.

With one blast of actinium energy, Dr. Antrovich was knocked into unconsciousness while Selfridge’s laughter was the last thing she heard before fading to darkness.


	3. Act II

**Act II - The Art of Improvising**

**_Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport - 1355 hours_ **

At approximately 12:40 this afternoon, Toronto Police responded to a disturbance unfolding at their headquarters, involving a riot inside the jailing area of the facility. This was later discovered to be a distraction used by the Repossession Task Force’s Samuel Brandt as a means to escape custody.

At 1:10 pm, the manhunt for Brandt was well underway. Chief Alexandra MacDonald didn’t waste any time having Billy Bishop Airport locked down completely, with cooperation from PortsToronto. This came after reports that Brandt was spotted somewhere near the area by Toronto Police officers who were stationed at the airport.

“You’re certain that this Brandt guy has kept in hiding somewhere in this airport?” Colby Ruschte, the head of PortsToronto asked Chief MacDonald and SSgt. Derick Eddison vigorously.

“We don’t have confirmation on that, sir, but we have every reason to believe that he could be here somewhere,” SSgt. Eddison responded. “I suggest you let us do our jobs so that we can keep the public safe.”

Ruschte simply just shrugged and let the Toronto Police do their jobs. Chief MacDonald looked on while officers scoured the the airfield for any sign of Brandt. Their search was extensive and thorough. They would not rest until Brandt was back in their custody.

Chief MacDonald’s determination to get this case closed once and for all was now at its highest peak, especially after the earlier incident at Police Headquarters. She was tired of her department’s continued failures with the SDI investigation and now saw this moment to re-arrest Brandt as the one last opportunity to vindicate her reputation.

As things got too quiet, Chief MacDonald’s cellphone rang urgently. She quickly picked it up and heard the voice of Constable Yusef Khan on the other line. His voice was filled with desperation and excitement simultaneously.

“Chief! Chief! I think we’ve got Brandt at Hangar B!” Constable Khan shouted over the phone before Chief MacDonald shut it off to run to the hangar, with SSgt. Eddison and other officers following suit.

At Hangar B, Samuel Brandt was indeed in hiding. His SDI uniform was completely disheveled, but he was still armed to the teeth with weaponry. Soon finding himself surrounded by Toronto Police officers, Brandt stood still and dropped his pistol.

“Samuel Brandt, you have a lot to answer for…” Chief MacDonald warned sternly, “...so just come along peacefully and this will all be over without any more incident.”

Despite having dropped his weapons, Brandt remained defiant as ever. “Yeah… that’s not gonna happen.”

Brandt grabbed two pistols from his hip holsters and opened fire on a group of approaching officers to disable them, prompting Chief MacDonald to order her subordinates to proceed with apprehending the R.T.F. commander with force.

As more officers advanced, Brandt fought them off one-by-one, making sure to hit killing shots for every officer that attacked him. Seeing that her people were losing this fight, Chief MacDonald called for the Emergency Task Force officers that were with her to go get Brandt.

It was at this moment that Brandt decided to make a run for it, escaping Hangar B with E.T.F. officers, SSgt. Eddison, and Chief MacDonald in pursuit. The E.T.F. officers shot at the escaping Brandt, but they weren’t able to successfully hit him.

This pursuit eventually found its way to a hangar owned by Huron Airlines, and it was here that SSgt. Eddison was able to shoot the back of Brandt’s left leg, bringing his attempted escape to a halt.

Chief MacDonald ordered the E.T.F. officers to slowly approach and surround Brandt to finally bring him to justice.

The attempted arrest was interrupted by the Huron Airlines hangar opening up to reveal a black corporate jet rolling out of it. This jet had a three-pronged arrow symbol with a hexagonal design at the centre of the symbol on its tail.

“What in the hell…” Chief MacDonald mouthed in confusion at what she was seeing. That confusion soon turned into slight concern when two chain-gun wielding soldiers in heavy black armor and face-concealing helmets stepped out of the plane.

Without saying a word, the soldiers charged their chain-guns and fired away at the E.T.F. officers, ripping through their armor like they were paper bags.

“Derick! Yusef! With me… now!” Chief MacDonald yelled over the gunfire while she hid behind a truck. SSgt. Eddison and Constable Khan complied with the orders and kept themselves hidden.

While the two soldiers continued to fire their chain-guns, Two men in matching white suits also emerged from the corporate jet and approached the injured Brandt.

“What… what are you…” Brandt strained in pain as the two white suit men lifted him off the ground.

“Mr. Brandt, we’re here to extract you from here…” one of the white suit men proclaimed as he and his cohort got closer to the plane door. “...on orders from our boss.”

Brandt was unbelieving of this situation. “And just who exactly do you work for, sir?”

The other man in a white suit replied. “You will find out in due time. For now, allow for our personal security to help get you out of here in one piece, Mr. Brandt.”

Once the two white suit men got Brandt into the black corporate jet, the chain-gun wielding soldiers stopped firing and entered the jet. Almost immediately, it left the Huron Airlines hangar and began to make final preparations for takeoff.

Knowing that there was no other choice, SSgt. Eddison and Chief MacDonald broke into the truck they were hiding and jumpstarted it so that the could pursue the black corporate jet. The commandeered truck managed to catch up to the jet. However, the door opened up again and one of the chain-gun soldiers emerged from it and began to fire once more.

Rather than try and hit either Eddison or Chief MacDonald, the chain-gun soldier shot at the fuel tank of the truck before getting back into the jet right as it took off from the tarmac. The two Toronto Police officers made a break for it before the truck exploded, getting themselves at a safe distance from the explosion.

“Just who the hell were those guys?” SSgt. Eddison asked while helping Chief MacDonald back up. “...they didn’t look like SDI thugs to me.”

Chief MacDonald didn’t respond to that question as she slammed her fist against the snow-covered pavement in frustration after again failing to stop another SDI-related crime. She silently looked skywards to where that black corporate jet was high up, dreading that moment where she’d have to give yet another press conference to announce her department’s unfortunate circumstances.

\---

**_The Depository - 1400 hours_ **

Base Alpha’s Depository was largely just a room dedicated to storing anything that wasn’t meant to be kept in the Armory or the Medical Research wing of the facility. It was comprised of an entire room filled with a large amount of lockboxes -- all of which were carefully labeled for convenient reference.

“Just what exactly are we doing here?” Finn asked while he looked on at Skye rummaging through one of the many lockboxes inside this second-level Depository room.

The lockbox Skye was looking through was labeled “SK-591”, in reference to her “birth number” assigned upon her creation in November 1995. It didn’t take long for Skye to find what she was looking for, in this case, the navy blue jacket she was wearing even while she was under SDI’s control until she was forced to wear one of their super-soldier uniforms.

Though it was a rather minute gesture in the grand scheme of things, Skye was glad to be in her own clothes again instead of having to wear the stolen uniform of a SDI security guard. Wearing her white wing-adorned navy blue jacket felt like a homecoming, even if it was just simply a matter of a change of clothes.

“Okay, now that you’ve got your jacket back, what’s the strategy now?” Finn questioned.

Inside an unmarked lockbox that sat beside the SK-591 lockbox, Skye opened it up and pulled a bulletproof vest out of it, then sliding it over to Finn.

“It’s yours. Take it.” Skye insisted. “You probably need it more than me or even Ava for that matter.”

“I’ve got a gut feeling that these SDI thugs aren’t messing around anymore.”

Finn couldn’t help but provide a retort to that statement. “And the fact they sent some gigantic thing to kill you wasn’t proof enough on that?”

Skye ignored that remark as she activated the stolen tablet’s map to pinpoint where they needed to be next. A 3D-generated holographic diagram of the entire Base Alpha complex, with a bright red marker denoting the location of the tablet.

“There was another area of this base where SDI was planning on keeping the Singularity super-soldiers like me until the time was right for them to be used,” Skye responded while she tapped a room on the tablet map that was just above them. “Knowing Selfridge, he’s probably got some new super-soldiers ready to be deployed.”

“...despite the fact that he doesn’t have your blood whatsoever?” Ava entered the conversation with a question of her own.

“He was expecting me to just let myself be drained of my blood while I was SK-Five-Whatever before I broke free of his control,” Skye explained. “He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who thinks things through despite planning ahead. His stunning level of hubris is his biggest weakness, and I think we can use that against him.”

At that exact moment, the lights inside the Depository room shut off -- likely as a result of Selfridge linking himself with Base Alpha’s power grid through his armour.

“Finn, Ava… stick close to me.” Skye spoke in a hushed tone, herself unsure about what caused this apparent power outage. “I have a feeling that this blackout wasn’t accidental.”

The trio left the Depository and entered into a narrow hallway, remaining cautious in their search for the super-soldier chamber. They soon found themselves inside the two-elevator room, predictably finding out that the elevators were out of order due to the outage.

Without warning, the heavily-mechanized voice of Gerald Selfridge boomed over the loudspeakers.

“You seem to have run into a problem, haven’t you?” his voice beamed with utter contempt for the three heroes that chose to defy his plans.

“Allow me to help with that….”

Right on cue, the hallway vents opened up, letting in tear gas from all directions. It didn’t take too long for Skye, Finn, and Ava to take the hint that they needed to escape before the tear gas’ effects would take over.

Skye charged right through a door, with Finn and Ava soon following suit, then getting that door shut with her strength almost as quickly to prevent the tear gas from spilling into the room they were hiding in.

“Well, that was just disturbing.” Finn huffed while trying to slump himself against the wall of this small room.

“And a bit rather close of a call…” Skye muttered while she made sure Ava was not feeling any of the effects from the tear gas. “Something’s not right here. That voice that just spoke sounded just like Selfridge… but he spoke like he became a robot or something.”

“Until we figure out just what the hell’s going on, let’s keep our eyes open. Anything and everything in this Base could be a deathtrap waiting to happen.”

Rather than head out back the door they came in, Skye, Finn, and Ava propped up a nearby table so that they could reach the ceiling. Without much effort, Skye ripped open a hole on the ceiling, grabbing the feet of a SDI scientist before dropping them below. She lifted Ava and Finn onto the hole above soon after.

That room Skye, Finn, and Ava entered from below was yet another laboratory, but one that was a lot less extravagant than the myriad of technologically-advanced facilities that comprised this base. They were now on the third floor of Base Alpha once more -- the very same floor that supposedly housed the super-soldier chambers.

“Y’think Selfridge has control over this room?” Ava questioned.

“Everything looks rather low-tech here…” Skye answered while observing this miniscule lab. “...but I wouldn’t be surprised if he had some hidden tri--- Finn, what are you doing?”

Ever precarious about his surroundings, Finn headed to the lab door and had a peek out, noticing SDI scientists and armed security walking about. He looked back at Skye, waiting on what to do next/

“I mean, Selfridge already knows we’re here in this base,” Finn pointed out. “There’s really no sense in hiding forever.”

Skye sighed in mild frustration before making an admission. “I guess you’re right, Finn. Let’s say we raise some hell to get Selfridge’s attention again...”

Before Skye, Finn, or Ava could even move a muscle, something unexpected was taking place just outside the doors of the lab. What sounded like guns firing ripped through the hallway, with bodies falling by the dozen soon after once the loud firing stopped and an unsettling silence took over.

Finn nervously had a peek at the glass door and saw the sight of a trail of dead SDI personnel and their blood splattering all over the walls and floor of the hallway. Skye and Ava soon got up to have a look at the carnage that was left by whatever it was that killed the personnel in the hallway. The trio opened the door and entered the hallway.

The row of dozens upon dozens of dead bodies was something that disturbed Skye, though she tried her best to hide her horror. Once she regained her composure, yet another unwelcome sight greeted Skye: two automated turrets from the ceiling aimed directly at her and her two friends.


	4. Act III

**Act III - The ‘Ol Rope-a-Dope**

The air inside the narrow third-floor hallway was filled with Selfridge’s irritatingly-smug laughter over the speakers, having just activated the automatic defense system to target Skye, Finn, and Ava with extreme prejudice.

“Killing your own people just to get my attention is a new low... “ Skye shouted with indignation, her fists tightly clenched again. “...even for someone as scummy as you, Selfridge.”

“Your continued defiance has forced my hand, SK-591…” Selfridge’s amplified robotic voice responded coldly while the mechanized auto-turrets were charging up. “They were nothing more but necessary casualties. And now, your two young friends will join them.”

“Finn! Ava! Take cover!” Skye said loudly over the whirring of the mechanized auto-turrets that had their sights locked on her, Finn, and Ava.

Finn and Ava didn’t hesitate to hide behind an elongated box as the turrets began to open fire at them. Of course, Skye didn’t have to hide due to her nigh-invulnerability coming into play once again. She was used to this by now: bullets bouncing off of her body harmlessly while her clothes were getting torn up.

Skye pulled out a panel of metal from the wall beside her and rolled it up before flinging it at the two auto-turrets to easily rip them apart. Unfortunately, more auto-turrets revealed themselves along the long hallway.

That didn’t seem to intimidate Skye, however, as she told Finn and Ava to stay closely behind her while they made their way along the hallway.

“Y’really think your fancy guns are going to stop me from finding you or your super-soldiers, Selfridge?” Skye really was not impressed with the mechanized SDI CEO’s attempts at stalling her progress.

“Your overconfidence is admirable, SK-591…” Selfridge’s disembodied voice taunted. “...but know that I will always be one step ahead of you and your two friends…”

The remaining auto-turrets fired away at the trio, causing Finn and Ava to get behind Skye to avoid the bullets. Unlike the earlier turrets, these latest sentries managed to hurt Skye, as their ammunition was laced with the yttrium/iridium hybrid metal that was able to pierce her otherwise invulnerable skin. One of the bullets hit Skye in her left shoulder, rendering her left arm temporarily disabled.

This forced Skye to rip out another panel of metal with her right arm to provide a shield for herself, Finn, and Ava while she ran forward along the hallway. The sudden movement gave Ava a good reason to manifest a pink energy shield to surround her, Finn and Skye while they moved past the auto-turrets. Once they reached the end of the hallway, Ava powered down her energy shield, allowing for Skye to throw the metal panel discus-style, destroying the remaining auto-turrets in one forward motion.

Skye looked down at the bullet lodged in her left shoulder, pulling it out painfully before rotating her arm to loosen it up while it healed. Both Finn and Ava gasped, but Skye put one hand up to calm them down. Having to treat her own injuries without medical assistance was nothing new, after all.

“Hey, Selfridge…” Skye declared boldly. “If you want my blood so badly, why don’t you stop hiding behind your base like a coward and come take it from me yourself?”

Although they couldn’t see Selfridge, the three could hear the arrogance in his voice booming over the speakers. “I am glad that you have happily obliged my impulses, SK-591. I invite you and your two to see firsthand what I have planned for you all.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

  
\---

**_The SDI Private Jet, Flying Over St. Catherines, Ontario - 1440 hours_ **

Aboard the black corporate jet owned by SDI Genomics, Brandt sat comfortably as he awaited further orders from the people that extracted him from Billy Bishop Airport. His left leg was still hurting from being hit with a bullet earlier, but he really didn't think much of that injury. He was quickly able to deduce that these individuals weren’t necessarily affiliated with SDI. The people on this private plane were all wearing different suits, but they weren’t anyone Brandt was familiar with.

A flight attendant approached the seated Brandt, offering him a complimentary cup of coffee. The ex-JTF-2 operative held the cup in his hand before taking a contemplative sip. At that moment, a sharply-dressed black-haired man -- who looked not that much older than Brandt -- took a seat.

“Mr. Brandt, continue to make yourself comfortable,” The black-haired man said. “We will be reaching our destination in an hour. Ms. Quincannon will be expecting you.”

“I believe I haven’t met Ms. Quincannon before, sir.” Brandt raised his eyebrow in mild confusion at this situation.

“We represent TriDyne Technologies, the company responsible for creating the weaponry that your SDI-owned strike team has been armed with.” the black-haired man -- an individual named “McEvoy” -- responded. “Ms. Quincannon has requested for your presence in regards to what is transpiring right now with SDI.”

Brandt countered with what he thought was the success his people were responsible for, completely unaware of the situation at Base Alpha. “While I was apprehended by police, I’ll have you know that my employers have successfully pacified Skye’s threat for good.”

“While I hate to burst your bubble, Mr. Brandt, I do have to correct your claims,” Caldwell put up a single dismissive finger. “I have sources from within your company’s facility telling me that this supposed success of yours has failed spectacularly.”

“Observe.”

Opening up a silver laptop on the desk, McEvoy turned it on to reveal surveillance footage of Base Alpha from earlier showing Skye’s showdown with SDI soldiers after rescuing Finn and Ava.

While Brandt knew he was once again proven wrong, he wasn’t surprised with what he was seeing on the laptop screen. He had already encountered just how difficult it was to put Skye down in person on several occasions -- something that wasn’t exactly common knowledge to McEvoy or his boss at TriDyne.

“If this is unfolding right now, I should be heading to Base Alpha to help mitigate the damage,” Brandt demanded forcefully. “My meeting with Ms. Quincannon will have to wait.”

McEvoy cleared his throat to interrupt Brandt before rebuking his demands. “Ms. Quincannon believes that SDI is a sinking ship that cannot be saved, even by you.”

Even though Brandt wanted to argue his case even further, he knew that Caldwell -- and by extension, Ms. Quincannon -- was right about SDI being unsalvageable at this point. He scoffed before settling back and quietly mulling over what would come next once he arrived at TriDyne.

Whatever the immediate future held for Brandt, he really didn’t dwell upon it too much. It was just going to be another mission to accomplish. Nothing more. Nothing less.

\---

**_Base Alpha Third Floor - 1500 hours_ **

Much to the surprise of both Finn and Ava, it appeared that Selfridge took up Skye’s challenge to confront her without any frills or tricks whatsoever. That only seemed to unsettle the two even more.

Despite that, they continued to advance through the impossibly long hallway with great caution. Said hallway had a few SDI guards patrolling the perimeter. But, as always, they really were no match for Skye and her superhuman abilities.

The first two guards tried to shoot Skye with their XT-14 rifles, but she moved so fast that they were unable to get a bead on her. Guard Number One got his face slammed against the wall, while Guard Number Two was knocked out after Skye threw her first opponent’s discarded helmet at him.

With Finn and Ava at her side, Skye stared down the remaining guards with a confident smirk on her face. She dared them to take her on -- a challenge that clearly went unanswered as the other guards ran off in fear.

“Hm… I didn’t even have to breath in their general direction, and they still ran away.” Skye twisted her left fist. “Must be a new record. Now let’s get to that room down the hallway.”

Skye led Finn and Ava past the two unconscious guards down the long hallway, eventually reaching the door all the way on the other side. They stopped short of the unmarked door, which soon opened automatically.

Upon entering the large empty room, the three noticed that on the other side was the very place they were looking for all along: the super-soldier chamber. While the large double-wide metal door took up most of the space of the entrance, two panes of glass on either side revealed massive cylindrical-looking pods inside the chamber.

“That must be the super-soldier chamber…” Skye took notice at where she and her friends were now.

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” Ava said with mild excitement, which prompted Skye and Finn to walk towards the super-soldier chamber door.

Right as they got close, a field of electricity prevented the two from actually making contact with the door. At the same time, Skye heard an unusual humming noise that gradually got louder.

“Get down!” Skye shouted while she took Finn and Ava and had them duck as a blue burst of light soon covered the entire room.


	5. Act IV

**Act IV - The Blood of Many**

**_The Armory II - 1530 hours_ **

The ceaseless ringing in Skye’s ears refused to go away while she labored just to wake herself up from whatever it was that attacked her, Finn, and Ava. As soon as she opened her eyes, the truth became a lot more clear for her once an imposing figure in metallic blue-and-black armour soon appeared in front of her.

The newly-armoured Gerald Selfridge hovered above the three young heroes, powered by a renewed sense to complete his goal of draining Skye of her blood to fuel his reborn Project Singularity.

“I take it that you are a fan of my newest additions?” Selfridge asked mockingly before charging his wrist gauntlet’s cannon. “It won’t matter anyway in the end, because you three have stood in the way of my plans for the last time.”

As always, Skye picked herself back up before throwing herself right into Selfridge to take him down. “Not today, you bastard!”

With Ava still left groggy as a result of Selfridge’s surprise attack, Finn was left with the task of getting her back to her feet while Skye engaged Selfridge in combat.

“Unnnnnnh…. wh-wh what?” Ava slurred faintly as she was still trying to recover.

Finn held his young friend closely while making sure she was okay. “I’ve got you, Ava. It’s okay.”  

“Wh...whuh ‘bout Skye?” Ava still tried to speak.

“She’s got the armoured guy handled…” Finn answered, showing faith in Skye’s abilities. “Right now, I’ve got to keep you safe.”

“Y’know, Selfridge, I’m glad you got yourself that suit of armour now,” Skye bantered while trading blows with her foe. “...’cause it means I won’t have to feel guilty for beating up on an old man!”

“It’s a pity then that this ‘old man’ will have to teach you a painful lesson in respecting your elders.” Selfridge responded before hitting Skye in the jaw with an armour-enhanced uppercut that sent her to the floor.

Before Selfridge could make any further moves, Skye kicked him in the leg, though that didn’t seem to have any effect whatsoever. The maniacal SDI CEO only smirked at Skye’s futile attempts to harm him before grabbing her by the neck and throwing her against the glass-lined walls.

Skye writhed in pain on the floor, but she refused to falter this easily. Her unwillingness to surrender was second nature -- fully ingrained into the fiber of her personality like the motivation to do right by Dr. Emery’s wisdom.

Right as Selfridge went for a punch, Skye grabbed his fist with both her hands before kneeing him in the gut. That momentary advantage was brought to an abrupt end when Selfridge hit Skye with a point-blank actinium blast to her chest, which caused the twenty year-old to double over in pain.

Ava couldn’t stand to see Skye being beaten within an inch of her life by Selfridge. She was willing to help her big sister however she could… unfortunately her body wasn’t agreeing with her feelings at the moment. Finn kept Ava from falling to the ground.

“I… I need to help. I have to help her!” Ava tried to plead her case.

“Y’can barely stand, Ava.” Finn fretted with concern. “I know you want to help Skye, but your body needs to time to recover.”

“Although…” Finn’s thoughts trailed off, his attention grabbed by another huge plasma cannon left on the ground just near where he and Ava were seated. With Selfridge still focused on hurting Skye, this allowed Finn to take the cannon effortlessly.

At that moment, Selfridge stopped his attacked, summoning a mechanical arm drone to deal with Skye while he went to confront Finn and Ava.

“Tchk. Children….” Selfridge scolded scornfully while opening up his wrist gauntlets, which began to pulsate with actinium energy. Before Finn and Ava could react, they were blown away by a strong blast of actinium.

As a result of the full force of Selfridge’s blast, both Finn and Ava were thrown violently into the door of this large and empty room, knocked out cold by the attack.

“Finn… Ava… no….” Skye watched in horror at her two friends being blasted into unconsciousness by Selfridge’s powerful actinium explosion. Before she could head their way to see if they were okay, one of the mechanical arm drones wrapped its claw around Skye and shocked her until she was knocked out completely by the strain that this electric torture had on her body.

The mechanical arm drone lifted Skye’s unconscious body right where Selfridge was waiting. A syringe-like device opened up on his wrist gauntlet as the SDI CEO held out his arm.

“While I desire to drain you dry of your blood completely,” Selfridge proclaimed confidently while he held Skye in position with his non-syringe arm. “I think it appropriate to only take a small sample to complete the synthesizing process to allow for my Project Singularity super-soldiers the honor of finally ending your life before I sell them off to the government.”

“Hold still… this won’t hurt one bit.”

Selfridge injected Skye’s arm with the syringe gauntlet, the small cylinder soon filling up with the superpowered blood of the twenty year-old. To add further insult to injury, Selfridge struck Skye down with a punch to the face that sent her slamming into the floor.

With victory imminent and the rebirth of his super-soldier project now closer than ever, Selfridge stood over Skye’s limp body, digging his steel-laced foot onto her head.

“Blood synthesizing process initiated -- preparing super-soldier pods for transfer.” A digitized voice spoke over the speakers of the vast and all-encompassing room.

Thanks to her superhuman durability kicking in, Skye was able to wake herself up from being electrocuted, but she was unable to stand, mainly due to Selfridge crushing her head at the moment.

“Don’t bother to resist, SK-591…” Selfridge hissed while he continued to keep Skye planted to the floor with his armoured foot. “...it will be all over soon.”

“And you will see the fruits of my glorious labour first hand.”


	6. Act V

**Act V - Collapsing Empires**

“Blood synthesizing process complete -- commencing pod transfer.” the artificial intelligence voice representing the entirety of Base Alpha intoned while the last bit of Skye’s blood flowed directly into Selfridge’s body. In the nearby super-soldier chamber room, the twelve pods began to glow as the process of having the necessary blood infused was now starting.

“Don’t you see, SK-591?” The super-enhanced Mr. Selfridge boasted as he continued to firmly plant his boot onto Skye’s head. “It’s all over. You and your pathetic friends have failed in stopping the rebirth of Project Singularity. Soon, I’ll have an entire army of super-soldiers that will render you a thing of the past!”

“That’s the funny thing… ungh... about madmen like you, Selfridge....” Skye responded with anger in her tone. “...you never seem to learn your lesson!”

From afar, Finn got himself back up, having recovered from being thrown into the wall. He soon picked up the gigantic plasma cannon once again before aiming it squarely at Selfridge. “You also never seem to shut up, big fella.”

One blast from the plasma cannon caused Selfridge to stagger to one knee (simultaneously knocking Finn back due to the force of the cannon’s fire), allowing for Skye to recover and hit the now-overly-muscular SDI CEO with a rising kick to his face. While that kick managed to stun Selfridge, he still somehow was able to remain standing in spite of it.

 _“I’ll never be able to do this alone… whatever Selfridge has done to himself means that he’ll be able to activate his super-soldiers in no time.”_ Skye said to herself before turning her head to Finn. _“...looks like it’s time for Plan Ava.”_

“Finn… I need you to wake Ava up right now. I need her help. I’ll need your help, too.”

“How can we help?” Finn questioned as he dropped the plasma cannon before crawling to Ava’s unconscious body.

“Finn, you’ll need to find a way to wake Ava up first, then I need you two to find a way into that super-soldier chamber… I think there’s something Ava did earlier that can shut down the chambers to prevent them from activating.”

Finn did his best to wake Ava up so that she could help with whatever it was that Skye was thinking. “You mean when she absorbed the energy from that big lug that nearly killed you?”

“Precisely,” Skye dipped and weaved to avoid Selfridge’s attacks. “Maybe she can absorb all the energy emanating from the modules som--- UNGH!!!!”

Selfridge managed to land a powerful strike that sent Skye crashing against the metal wall behind her. Sensing this momentary advantage, Selfridge quickly leaped to where Skye fell to the floor and continued stomping away at his target.

“And now, you will get a taste of the full might that will soon power my new army of super-enhanced soldiers…” Selfridge held Skye by the neck and lifted her above the ground in a one-handed chokehold, leaving the young superhuman gasping for air.

Back with Finn and his attempts to awaken Ava, the twenty-one year-old was getting increasingly desperate to find a way to wake his young ally up. Not helping with that desperation was Finn turning to see Skye losing her fight against the newly-augmented Selfridge, which only made him even more frantic to get something done before it was too late.

Out of any reasonable options, Finn simply went for a water bottle that had rolled out of his backpack a while back and proceeded to splash it right onto Ava’s face.

“Wh… whuh-h----- Finn? What’s goin’ on?” Ava, face drenched with water, groggily spoke as she woke up from being knocked unconscious.

“Don’t have time to explain…” Finn used his arms to lift Ava back up. “...Skye needs our help, so we need to get going!”

Despite being held in a seemingly-unbreakable chokehold by Selfridge, Skye refused to give in to the SDI CEO’s enhanced strength. She somehow found a way to strike at the back of Selfridge’s elbow in an attempt to free herself of this grip she found herself in. She then thrusted her foot into her enemy’s chest to finally escape Selfridge’s grasp with one last backflip. However, with the effort exerted in freeing herself, that meant the landing wasn’t as smooth for Skye as she had hoped. Her leg gave out as soon as she landed on the floor after her backflip, causing her to fall to her knees.

“You might have escaped, but that is only a temporary victory.” Selfridge remained as arrogant as ever while he charged his actinium-powered gauntlet. “And it will be your last.”

Before Selfridge could fire his gauntlet, he was interrupted by a full-force blast of energy from Ava, who stood beside Finn. The two soon made their way over to Skye’s side to help her back up to her feet.

“I thought I told you two to go stop the super-soldier pods from activating…” Skye said.

“You getting beaten up by Bootleg Iron Man over there kinda made it hard for us to follow orders,” Finn commented in response. “Plus, the door to the chamber itself is locked shut. We can’t get it open at all.”

“Fair enough,” Skye conceded to Finn’s point. “...I’ll actually need the two of you to help shut Selfridge down for good.”

Selfridge stood as smug as he ever did in facing down Skye, Finn, and Ava. He was confident that his cybernetic enhancements would give him superiority over his three young foes.

“Using a child to fight your battles?” Selfridge taunted. “You’re no better than me, SK-591. We’re not so dif--”

Clearly having enough of Selfridge’s ranting, Ava blinded him with a flash of pink light while Skye punched him in the face to once again stun her foe. Finn contributed by shooting at Selfridge’s legs to trip him up.

“Y’should’ve known better, Selfridge…” Skye said while Ava and Finn kept pelting the cyberized SDI CEO with their energy blasts. “There’s one difference that separates the two of us: I trust my friends to help me, while you enslave people as weapons without free will.”

Skye rolled underneath Selfridge’s arm as he was trying to strike down the young superhuman with his metallic arm. She then kicked Selfridge from behind, right into the range of a ball of pink energy fired by Ava.

“That trust is a bond that I share with Finn and Ava… and it’s something you can never fabricate, Selfridge. Even if you have a thousand super-soldiers at your disposal.”

Despite being knocked aside by Skye, Finn, and Ava’s collaborative effort, Selfridge still knew he had the upper hand on the two. And he was not afraid to let them know it.

“Fighting me won’t stop my super-soldiers from reaching full activation,” Selfridge said as he pushed aside Skye with a single palm strike to her chest. “I have full control over everything inside Base Alpha…”

“You can’t possibly hope to stop what I have planned, SK-591.”

“Hey, you alright?” Finn ran over to where Skye was knocked aside, helping her back up with Ava’s help.

“Yeah, I’ll live…” Skye answered while she clutched her ribs in pain. “...but we’re not getting anywhere like if we keep going like this. We have to get that super-soldier chamber open somehow.”

Ava had a suggestion of her own. “Maybe kicking Selfridge around one more time is the key to that? He’s been talkin’ about how he’s connected with the base ‘n everything, so maybe we can sever that link by hitting him a whole bunch.”

“Good point.” Skye was in agreement with Ava’s idea, and not just because she had some unfinished business with an enemy that left her beaten more than once on this day.

Finn kept firing at Selfridge while Skye and Ava maneuvered back and forth in the hopes of luring their armoured foe to the super-soldier chamber doors.

Selfridge fired a blast of actinium energy at Skye and Ava, but the two avoided it swiftly, ending up just right in front of the doors.

Using up all the jet power in his boot thrusters, Selfridge tackled Skye right through the doors to the super-soldier chamber, tearing it completely in half. With Skye in trouble yet again, Ava and Finn didn’t waste any time in entering the newly-opened super-soldier chamber so that they could help.

With Selfridge repeatedly trying to claw at her face with his actinium-charged gauntlets, Skye had an unusually difficult time to pry the armored SDI CEO off of her. That struggle ended abruptly when Selfridge picked Skye up and held her tightly so that she could have a “closer look” at what was about to happen.

_“Project Singularity blood infusion process at forty-five percent…”_

Selfridge leaned in closer to Skye’s ear, speaking in a harsh whisper. “In mere moments my super-soldiers will be fully empowered with your blood and I will change the face of hist--”

Despite being held in an incredibly tight vise grip, Skye still managed to elbow Selfridge with enough strength to loosen the grip he had on her. One charged plasma blast from Finn’s huge cannon soon allowed for Skye to completely break free as Selfridge was shunted aside.

Skye fell to both knees while holding her rib with both arms before Finn and Ava helped her back up to her feet.

“Finn, this is going to sound incredibly insane, but… I need you to shoot Ava with your cannon.” Skye trembled in slight nervousness, but she didn’t mince her words with this plan of hers.

“....Everything that’s happened to me for the past few weeks might be finally taking their toll on me, but did you just tell me to shoot Ava?” Finn was understandably confused about his friend’s orders.

“Y’remember what I told you about Ava’s energy absorbing earlier?” Skye asked Finn, who nodded in agreement. “Maybe one good blast from that cannon of yours can kill multiple birds with one stone.”

“These super-soldier chambers are powered by whatever’s keeping Selfridge’s armour going. I think Ava can draw energy from your cannon as well as the chambers to overload them completely.”

“I dunno if you’re crazy or if you’re onto something…” Finn was just about to defer to Skye’s plan. “...but really, I’m out of all options. I just hope we don’t miscalculate and I end up killing Av--”

“You’ve got this, Finn.” Skye put a confident hand on her friend’s shoulder, trying her best to ease his fears of failure. “I have faith that you and Ava will get this done.”

_“Project Singularity blood infusion process at fifty-six percent….”_

Skye took one deep breath before she looked at Ava to get her approval for whatever it was she was planning.

“You sure you’re okay with this, Ava?” Skye asked one more time. “If you’re not comfortable, we’ll find some other way to shut these chambers down…”

Despite that offer for an alternative solution, Ava still expressed her willingness to help Skye out without even saying a single word. She knew what she was getting herself into.

Skye saw the trust both Finn and Ava had in her, which only gave her more confidence about leading them to the next and final phase of the plan to stop Project Singularity’s rebirth for good. “Alright, then. Ava… to my left. Finn, just keep blasting the hell out of Selfridge.”

Both Finn and Ava nodded in agreement, soon getting themselves into their respective positions.

_“Project Singularity blood infusion process at sixty-six percent…”_

Ava joined Skye in keeping Selfridge distracted right in the middle of the fifty-square-feet chamber, while Finn held his energy cannon, prepared to use it for his part of the plan.

Using the full capabilities of his armor, Selfridge was unable to maintain control over Base Alpha’s operations grid, as he was focused on fighting Skye. This made it easy for the twenty year-old to successfully keep her foe occupied. This was the cue for Ava to begin charging her body’s reserve of energy.

“Finn, shoot now!” Skye shouted while she was trying to block blow after blow from Selfridge’s steel fists. “Ava.. I need you to concentrate every bit of energy you have in your body to absorb the bla---”

Skye’s last order was cut short by one of Selfridge’s punches making contact with her face, drawing a fair amount of blood from her mouth. Sensing that he was at an advantage now, Selfridge continued to pummel Skye with punch after punch after punch until her face was a bloody mess.

_“Project Singularity blood infusion process at seventy-eight percent…”_

Although the sight of their friend at the cusp of unconsciousness briefly got Finn and Ava’s attention, they both knew that finishing what needed to be done to end SDI’s threat was of greater importance.

Finn aimed his plasma cannon towards Ava, who stood at the centre of the chamber room, before firing a full-force blast at her direction. Within a split-second, Ava activated a field of pink energy to surround her entire body right as the blast made contact with her. A burst of pink-and-blue energy began to emanate from the field that wrapped around Ava.

Selfridge stopped his merciless attack on Skye as the flash of blue plasmic energy clashing with Ava’s pink light caught his attention.

“Oh no, you don’t, you son of a bitch…” Skye said indignantly while she grabbed Selfridge’s leg to prevent him from heading towards Ava. Using whatever strength she had left in her body, Skye lifted herself up while maintaining her grip on the SDI CEO’s armoured leg. Selfridge tried to hit Skye with his fists once more, but the superpowered twenty-year old simply avoided the strikes before punching Selfridge in the face several times.

“This looks important…” Skye snarked while she got a hold of the cybernetic visor attached to Selfridge’s face before ripping it out completely to leave Selfridge’s head even more vulnerable.

Ava, in the meantime, continued to struggle to keep up her pink light shield, the strain of doing so becoming evident in the fourteen year-old’s face. Slowly, but surely, the energy emanating from the super-soldier pods began to be absorbed by the increasingly-growing energy Ava was producing at a rapid rate. Unfortunately, it was becoming clear that this was starting to hurt Ava the more she tried to keep her energy shield active. She started to scream out in agony, even as she tried to resist the urge to do so. Ava knew that this was it. Everything to ensure the end of the evil plans that put her surrogate big sister in danger was riding on her.

“Skye… you need to get Ava out of that energy field she’s creating before it kills her!” Finn yelled over the hum of the growing energy with a heightened sense of urgency.

“I’m on it…” Skye pushed aside Selfridge before running towards Ava’s energy field in an attempt to save her teenaged friend before it was too late.

Selfridge reached out his arm and fired a blast of actinium energy that hit Skye right in the back, causing her to crumple on the floor just a mere foot away from Ava’s energy shield. He rose back up and hovered ominously until he was looming over both Skye and Ava.

“How fortuitous… I have a chance to finish you and your child companion, SK-591.” Selfridge smirked once again. “It’s just a shame that you both won’t bear witness to the dawning of a new era.”

“Maybe this will shut you up, fella!” Finn really was tired of hearing Selfridge’s continued rantings, targeting the armored Project Singularity head before firing the plasma cannon to temporarily daze him to keep him away from Skye and Ava.

Skye struggled to recover from being blasted with actinium to look up at Ava still trying her best to control the mass amounts of energy she absorbed. For one thing, Ava was no longer feeling the pain that she was enduring about a moment ago. It was almost as if she was now able to have some degree of control over the energy that continued to grow.

Ava gazed towards Skye for guidance, wanting to know what she needed to do now with a seemingly-unlimited supply of energy surrounding her.

“You know what to do next, Ava.” Skye whispered softly to the fourteen year-old, ever-confident in her unique abilities. Realizing that she was beginning to sound like her creator and surrogate mother in how she was motivating Ava, Skye said something that was a familiar refrain in her mind...

“I believe in you.”

With that, Ava thrusted her arms forward to expel the field of pink/blue energy that blanketed her outwards, causing it to envelop the super-soldier chamber completely. Finn instinctively hid behind a box attached to the floor after dropping the plasma cannon, while Skye was thrown into the wall right next to where Finn was hiding.

“Project Singularity blood transf-ERRROR --zzzzzzz-rrrbbbbbbbbzzggg” The computerized voice shorted out right as the process for empowering Selfridge’s would-be super-soldiers with the synthesized version of Skye’s blood was nearing completion.

Finn crawled over to Skye, checking up on his friend. Indeed, Skye was alright, if a bit loopy due to being slammed forcefully against the wall by the explosion of energy.

As the brilliant display of pink/blue energy swept over the entire chamber, the super-soldier pods began to shut down one-by-one before collapsing altogether, burying the bodies of the incomplete super-soldiers underneath tonnes of steel and glass. Once the light disappeared, Ava collapsed to the floor, once again losing consciousness. Finn and Skye got themselves back up and soon went over to where Ava was lying down, checking up to see if their young ally was okay. After a moment, Ava slowly opened her eyes, met by the welcoming sight of Skye and Finn showing their gratitude for her efforts in stopping Selfridge’s plans.

“Di…. did I do good?” Ava squeaked while she recovered from her powerful display of light that essentially taxed out her entire body.

“Yes, you did, Ava.” Skye knelt over the teenager and held her closer in a light embrace, with a look of relief on her face settling in. “Yes, you did.”

“I’m so proud of you.”

That pride Skye had in Ava’s impressive feat was in direct contrast to the utter anger Selfridge was overcome with as a result of the destruction of the super-soldier chamber.

“NO! What have you all done!?” Selfridge shouted in disbelief at all his hopes and ambitions for an army of super-soldiers at his disposal literally crashing and burning right before his very eyes. “My army! Everything that I have worked for! You’ve ruined it all!”

Selfridge attempted to pick himself back up, but the strength of Ava’s energy outburst appeared to have short-circuited whatever power his suit of armour had left. That left him vulnerable to Skye lifting the now-powerless SDI CEO off the ground and throwing him right into what was once a module containing a prospective super-soldier.

“It’s over, Selfridge.” Skye -- holding Ava's unconscious body in her arms -- said as Finn soon stood by her side. “This nightmare you’ve inflicted on me and everyone I care for is over. Project Singularity is dead.”

“You’ve lost.”

Even as he was left beaten and broken by his superpowered foe, Selfridge still had the energy to mock Skye by laughing at her face arrogantly. “Why don’t you end it once and for all, Subject SK-591? Why not just put me… ack… out of my misery?”

“After all… isn’t that what you truly wanted?”

While Selfridge’s words haunted Skye for a brief moment, the twenty year-old knew better -- especially as Dr. Emery’s wisdom continued to linger in her mind, as did the influence Finn and Ava had on her life. They all knew her as a person capable of great compassion, and Skye wasn’t about to throw that away for a chance at petty revenge.

There was no question on what she’d do next.

“No… no. I won’t kill you.” Skye turned away from where Selfridge was lying in a broken heap, “You’ve spent your whole life trying to turn me into your personal weapon of mass destruction, and you’ve failed at doing that. Killing you now would mean that you’ve gotten what you’ve wanted, Selfridge, so you’re gonna live.”

“I want you to live with the fact that all your plans to resurrect a project that you tried to steal from right under my mother’s nose have gone up in smoke because of me. I want you to live with the fact that every single attempt to crush my hope has blown up in your face.”

“Oh, I’ll live, alright....” Selfridge laughed as he slammed his hand across the glowing blue core on his chest. “...it’s just unfortunate that you and your two friends won’t.”

“Base Alpha self-destruct protocol commencing in five minutes,” a digitized female voice announced over the base-wide intercom system.

Skye held the still-unconscious Ava in her arms while she looked at Finn and hollered at him. “Finn… double-time, now!”

Not wanting to waste any more precious time, Finn followed Skye out of the super-soldier chamber. Despite having to hold the 198-pound Ava in her arms, that didn’t seem to diminish Skye’s strength or speed at all, evident by the fact that she was able to kick down the door that led to Base Alpha’s centralized elevator area.

_“Self-destruct protocol commencing in four minutes and thirty seconds…”_

Surrounded by a circle of elevators and left with little time to escape Base Alpha before its destruction, Skye remembered that the elevator to the right of where she and Finn were standing was the one that led to the bridge that connected Base Alpha to the SDI depot. Despite the elevator door being completely shut, Skye forced it open to allow for her, Ava and Finn to enter inside.

“Wait… Skye, where the hell do you think you’re going?” Finn asked with a great deal of concern. “This place is about to go under in about three minutes! We’re not leaving you behind!”

“You’re gonna have to… I’ve gotta find Dr. Antrovich and get her somewhere safe.” Skye explained her reason for leaving Finn and Ava to escape the Base. “I’ll catch up with you two, I promise.”

It hurt Finn to have to leave Skye behind, but he soon took Ava inside the elevator so that they could head to the transfer bridge area. Skye, meanwhile, headed into the stairwell right near the elevator in order to make it to Selfridge’s office.

Within a matter of moments, Skye was on the fifth floor, with the elegant brown doors of Selfridge’s office at the other end of this hallway she was in.

_“Self-destruct protocol commencing in three minutes and fifty-five seconds…”_

Skye sprinted towards Selfridge’s office, avoiding the collapsing debris of the hallway along the way. She tried to get the door open, but it was locked shut. Deciding that she couldn’t waste any time, Skye simply charged through the door, breaking it in half. Her attention was focused on the unconscious body of Dr. Antrovich, who was left like that after Selfridge blasted her with his armour.

Kneeling over Antrovich’s body, Skye checked for a pulse by putting her index and middle fingers against the sides of the Slovakian doctor’s neck. It was faint, but there was a pulse beating, indicating that Antrovich was still alive. Skye soon performed CPR until Antrovich slowly opened her eyes.

“Uhnnnnh… ar--” Antrovich grunted before Skye helped her to stand up.

Skye steadied Antrovich as she led the two of them out of Selfridge’s office. “It’s okay, doctor… I’m getting you the hell out of here. I’ll do all the heavy lifting. Please, just relax.”

Lifting Antrovich on her shoulders, Skye ran back to the other side of the hallway -- her speed largely unaffected by having to lift someone weighing approximately 215 lbs. on her back. She soon descended down the flight of stairs, in the hopes of making it to the transfer bridge area on the third floor of the facility.

_“Self-destruct protocol commencing in one minute and twenty-two seconds…”_

Over with Finn and Ava, the elevator finally reached the transfer bridge room, right as Ava woke up.

“Hnnngh… Fi… Finn… where’s Skye?” Ava asked groggily. The last thing she remembered was unleashing her energy to destroy the super-soldier chambers. She didn’t know that Skye went to retrieve Dr. Antrovich and was still back at the Base.

“She’ll be fine, trust me…” Finn ad-libbed a response to assure Ava of Skye’s survival. “...right now, though we’ve got to get outta here before we’re blown to bits.”

The two ran through the transfer bridge as fast as they could, despite fatigue finally setting in. They barely made it to the Engineering Facility, where other SDI personnel and security guards were making their escape.

Amidst the mass of bodies attempting to evacuate, Finn noticed a black Humvee emblazoned with the SDI logo on its side. He took Ava right to where that Humvee was parked before getting her to the front passenger seat. Finn took the wheel of the vehicle, naturally.

“D-do… do you know how to drive this thing?” Ava asked sheepishly.

“Not exactly.” Finn admitted. “But… I think years of playing that Daytona USA game at the Scotiabank Theatre arcade might’ve given me some form of experience.”

In a sheer act of stupidity on the part of whichever SDI employee was responsible for the vehicle -- and an incredible stroke of luck for Finn and Ava -- the key to the Humvee was still in the ignition. This allowed Finn to easily start the Humvee up.

_“Self-destruct protocol commencing in ten seconds…”_

Finn pressed his feet on the Humvee’s gas pedal, accelerating at about 50mph right through the door of the Engineering Facility and past some fleeing SDI personnel.

 _“Three… two… one. Self-destruct protocol initiated.”_ The computer voice said before the sea-based headquarters for SDI erupted in a massive fireball, taking the glass connecting bridge that linked the Base with the Engineering Facility with it.

Everything within Base Alpha soon went up in flames, quickly claiming the lives of those who had the misfortune of being unable to escape. The crates within the Armory erupted in succeeding explosions as a result. Inside the super-soldier chamber, Selfridge silently chuckled at his fate before he found himself buried by the destroyed pods.

Finn exited the Humvee, helping Ava get off of the passenger seat as well. They both sat on the snow-covered ground, awaiting to see if Skye managed to escape Base Alpha’s destruction.

That hope gradually changed into concern as seconds passed by and still no sign of Skye anywhere. When those seconds became minutes, concern metamorphosed into dread for both Finn and Ava. They feared the worse had happened to their friend… that Skye perished in the resulting explosion that leveled SDI’s headquarters.

Those fears were thankfully put to rest when they saw a familiar figure emerging from the collapsing Engineering Facility. With a barely-conscious Dr. Antrovich in tow, Skye strided with a purpose. She was covered in dirt and cuts (that were slowly healing, naturally) from having to escape Base Alpha in the manner that she did, but she was alive and well.

Though they were tired after everything they had been through on this day, Finn and Ava still had the energy to run to Skye and express their relief that she once again defied death and survived yet another perilous situation.

“H-how in the world did you ge--” Finn asked incredulously.

“You should know better by now, Finn…” Skye replied with a small smile on her face. “...I’m just full of surprises.”

At that moment, Finn’s cellphone rang, eliciting the twenty-one year-old to check to see who was calling him. The video on his phone turned on, revealing the caller to be none other than Stephen O’Day, Finn’s hockey-playing boyfriend.

“Steve, I’m so happy you’re calling me!” Finn said with the utmost joy in his voice. “Me and Skye were just talking about you today…”

“Finn, just where are you, exactly?” Stephen O’Day curiously asked, completely unaware of what his boyfriend was up to for the past day or so. “Last I heard, you got arrested for killing a guy and then they found you were inn--”

“It’s a really long story that I’ll get to once we get back to Toronto,” Finn elaborated before he glanced towards Skye, who knew what was coming next. “...and also, Stephen… there’s been something I’ve been meaning to say to you for quite some time. It’s just that I haven’t had the courage to do that until now.”

“Hm…?” Stephen's curiosity piqued. 

“Stephen, I love you. Ever since I walked out on my foster parents, you’ve been the best thing that has happened to me.” Finn was deep into his affections for his hockey-playing companion, much to the approvals of both Skye and Ava.

“I know I haven’t been around much to show that appreciation for you, but I want nothing but the best for you. There’s nothing more that I want than to spend a lifetime with you to show just how much I am thankful for you.”

“Stephen O’Day, sharpshooting sniper for the Toronto Marlies… will you marry me?”

On the other end of the video call, Stephen O’Day was blushing red from the love that he was being shown at the moment from Finn.

“Y’know that’s one big ‘hell yeah’, Finwick.” Stephen affirmed Finn’s love for him. “You can even bring your weird-haired friend Skylar along to our wedding whenever that happens.”

Finn didn’t hesitate to try and correct his soon-to-be husband. “Her name is Sk--”

Skye quickly motioned to Finn to stop what he was saying. She knew that this was Finn’s moment, and she wasn’t going to take that away from him -- even if she wasn’t doing it directly.

Finn looked back at Skye and Ava with a smile before turning his attention to Stephen O’Day again. “Yes, she and our new friend Ava will be there for the wedding.”

“This is lovely. Everything is lovely. We can talk about everything and our plans for the wedding after the game tomorrow during our date.” Stephen O’Day smiled before blowing Finn a flirtatious kiss as he signed off on the phone call.

In a further punctuation of what just happened, another large explosion emanating from where Base Alpha once stood went off, providing an impromptu fireworks display.

Snow began to fall gently from the clouds soon after. Finn smiled wildly, overjoyed with his engagement to Stephen O’Day and the fact that it appeared that the conspiracy was over with. Ava, on the other hand, laid herself on the snow-covered ground, exhausted from all her efforts today.

Finn sighed with relief while he sat down beside Skye and Ava. “I can’t believe that we finally did it. We ended SDI and their Project.”

While Skye was unsure if she shared Finn’s sentiments of SDI’s evil Project being truly shut down, she couldn’t help but be relieved that the immediate threat she and her friends were facing was over for now.


	7. Epilogue

**Epilogue - A Sky(e) of Infinite Possibilities**

**THREE MONTHS LATER**

**_TriDyne Technologies World Headquarters, Manhattan, New York - April 12th, 2016_ **

Outside the sophisticated Madison Avenue headquarters for TriDyne Technologies, a brown-haired woman in sharp grey business attire stepped inside the revolving doors, accompanied by two men in matching black suits, one of whom was Samuel Brandt, the now-former head of SDI’s Repossession Task Force.

“The meeting is just waiting for your arrival, ma’am.” A secretary seated on a desk said to the brown-haired woman and her two escorts. The trio soon entered an elevator that took them to the 25th floor of the TriDyne building.

The brown-haired woman was Jackie Quincannon, noted philanthropist and founder of TriDyne, one of America’s most prominent technology firms -- also known for being a prolific weapons supplier to numerous militaries across the world.

As Quincannon stepped inside the boardroom, she was met by a cabal of men and women seated around a circular-shaped table bearing the three-pronged corporate logo of TriDyne at its centre. Quincannon soon took her position at the very back of the table, with Brandt and the other suited man standing at her side.

“I am glad that you are all able to join us today for this emergency Board of Directors meeting, everyone.” Quincannon got the meeting started. “It has been a tumultuous couple of months for TriDyne, but I am pleased to inform you on the progress on certain plans I have been personally been overseeing.”

“With all due respect, Ms. Quincannon,” A woman amongst the Board of Directors spoke up. “This Board does hope that this progress you speak of has nothing to do with Gerald Selfridge and his sinking ship that he calls a company.”

“It is quite unfortunate that Mr. Selfridge and his company has completely dropped the ball,” Quincannon said with regret. “However, that foolish old man was on to something with his ambitions for the Project.”

“Ms. Quincannon, are you certain that it is worth the risk to carry on SDI’s work with Project Singularity?” Another man had the floor at the moment, using it to ask the TriDyne CEO a pressing question. “There was a reason that their attempts at creating super-soldiers failed the way it did.”

“I am aware of that, Mr. Dunham,” Quincannon replied. “Selfridge underestimated just how dangerous Skye really is, allowing for his obsession with her blood to be his ultimate downfall.”

“Unlike Selfridge, I hold no such qualms. If it weren’t for my funding and considerable influence, he wouldn’t even have dared to come close in bringing someone as powerful as Skye is into the fold he worked so hard in creating.”

“What of Selfridge now?” Mr. Dunham asked once again.

As Quincannon turned on the videoboard she was sitting in front of, she had an answer to that question that was just asked. “He has met an unfortunate demise, no doubt due to his failures to complete his Project.”

The videoboard lingered on an image of a newspaper headline declaring “SDI STOCKS TUMBLE AFTER ILLEGAL OPS EXPOSED”. The newspaper featured had an article discussing how it appeared that SDI Genomics essentially became unraveled after their illegal dealings were brought into the light.

“What will be the plan now?” Another woman seated amongst the group of suited individuals asked.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us, everyone, but for now, we must lay low until the moment is right to bring forth change to this continent.” Quincannon declared.

“If Skye and any of her allies prove to be a formidable threat to our plans, then The Conglomerate will be more than willing to ensure they will be nothing but faded memories of the past.”

“The meeting is adjourned.”  Brandt said to officially conclude the conference between his new boss and TriDyne’s Board of Directors.

Quincannon stood from her seat and mulled over what exactly would be her Conglomerate’s plans to deal with Skye. This was going to be a long-term project for her to see through from beginning to end.

\---

**_SafeHaven Homeless Shelter, Skye’s Apartment -- April 15th, 2016_ **

“Wake up, sleepyhead!” Ava’s smiling face greeted Skye as she opened her eyes. “Time for breakfast, then we’re goin’ skating together...”

“In a second, Ava… I just need a moment.” Skye yawned while stretching her arms to get herself loose after a good night’s sleep -- one of many she was glad to have during the past month.

Unlike most of the mornings she had for the past twenty years or so, this Friday morning was different in many ways for Skye. For one thing, it was the first time since ever that she didn’t have to worry about the spectre of SDI and its Project Singularity conspiracy looming over her. While Skye was certain that the threat of the conspiracy still wasn’t erased completely, she welcomed having some tranquility for a change.

Finn had offered Skye and Ava his SafeHaven apartment just days after Stephen O’Day accepted his proposal for marriage, as he had opted to move into his future-husband-to-be’s house in Liberty Village. Ironically, the apartment was a lot more messier than it was when Finn occupied it, probably due to Skye’s nomadic nature never allowing for her to stay somewhere tidy.

In the three intervening months since that time, Skye was more than happy to get to know Ava better -- learning more about herself and how she fit into her friends’ lives in the process.

Skye rubbed both her hands against her hair -- which was now back to its usual purple-and-pink dye -- then looking outside the window of her apartment with a smile as the sounds of the city caught her eye.

It really didn’t matter for Skye that she was just nothing more but an artificially-made human being who could never truly live a normal life due to the nature of her powers and the conspiracy that seemed to follow her endlessly. She came to learn how to take the few good days she had with the people she came to know as her friends and cherish them forever. That seemed to be the lesson she took away out of the past few months more than anything else -- even with the chaos that unfolded around her.

Ava, in the meantime, had a greater appreciation for Skye’s presence in her life even more than she did in the past few months of knowing her new “big sister” during their shared trials and tribulations in exposing SDI’s conspiracy. While Skye knew very little about the full scope of Ava’s light powers, she tried her best to provide a guiding hand in embracing the one thing that helped make Ava who she was.

“Before we head out, there’s just something I’ve been meaning to say, Ava,” Skye said as she put on her now-signature navy blue jacket with the wing emblems on its shoulders. “I just want to thank you and Finn for all that you’ve done for me since I came to Toronto.”

“Even when I was out on my own and trying my best to make a difference without even knowing it, I never knew who I really was or what I was meant for. Probably because of how messed up my memories were due to what SDI did to me. That definitely changed when I met Finn and when I ran into you, Ava.”

Ava took a seat right next to where Skye was sitting, wanting to listen more to what her new ‘big sister’ was saying.

“You guys have done more for me than I could’ve ever hoped for, and I’m the one that’s got all the superhuman abilities…” Skye continued with her sincerity. “I mean, without you and Finn, I probably would’ve never gotten a chance to see the humanity in myself... how I’m more than just my powers.”

“In a way, it’s like you and Finn saved my life, and I have to thank you guys for that.”

Skye turned her attention to the drawer beside the bed Ava was sleeping in and pulled it open. Inside it was a small red box wrapped with a gold ribbon. Naturally, Ava’s eyes lit up upon seeing the red box, knowing right away that Skye had a gift for her, two days after her fifteenth birthday.

Ava removed the gold ribbon and opened up the red box. Inside this box was a glass memento shaped like an eight-point starburst. Within this memento was Ava’s name etched within the glass encasing and the words “Always Shine Brighter” below it. A button on the wooden base of the memento activated a light projection in the shape of the glass starburst design.

“I know, it’s unbelievably cheesy and not the best thing I could’ve got you...” Skye remained modest about her gift. "...but happy belated birthday, Ava. I hope you lik--"

“Are you kiddin’? This thing is the best, Skye… I love it!” Ava exclaimed with a big smile on her face. She was more than appreciative for Skye’s gift -- and it showed just by how she reacted to getting it.

While Ava was mesmerized by her new keepsake, the phone inside Skye’s apartment rang, prompting Skye to head over to the coffee table next to the couch so she could pick it up. Finn’s voice buzzed with excitement from the other end of the phone.

“How are my two favorite people in the whole world doing in my old digs?” Finn beamed from over the phone.

“Me and Ava were just about to head out for a skate at Nathan Phillips Square. Don’t worry, you and Stephen are always welcome to join along. We’d be glad to have the soon-to-be happy couple on the ice with us.” Skye answered. “Other than that, we’re all good.”

“It’s really unusual to hear you sound so optimistic about things, Skye, but I’m glad that you and Ava are doing well for yourselves.” Finn’s own happiness for his friends seemed to be quite evident, even through just his voice on the phone.

“How’s wedding planning and Stephen’s playoff aspirations with his AHL team going?” Skye asked.

“It’s been pretty wild for both of us. The Marlies won their division and they’ve got the first round of the playoffs in a few weeks.” Finn responded with joy. “Meanwhile, I’ve been trying my best to get the wedding set up, as well as figure just who to invite aside from you and Ava.”

“Man, wedding planning is really grueling shit.”

“Even more grueling than fending off paramilitary thugs hired by an amoral genetics firm?” Skye teased her friend with a surprise hint of playfulness, something that caught Finn by surprise. He was used to Skye being a lot more serious about everything, so this side of her was something different, but it was one that was definitely most welcomed.

“I wouldn’t go that far, Skye, but you do kinda have a point.” Finn concluded. “Speaking of which, you think we’ve stopped SDI for good?”

“We might’ve taken down Selfridge and his company...” Skye replied with a bit of unfortunate news on that front. “...but something tells me that we haven’t truly heard the last of Project Singularity.”

“In the meantime, though… let’s enjoy the days that we can enjoy. It might not always be smooth sailing for any of us, but as long as we stick together, nothing will ever bring us down.”

“...and I thought I was the one who sounded unbelievably corny,” Finn laughed nervously, expecting Skye to be mad with him. Instead, he was pleasantly surprised when Skye actually chuckled at his remark.

“You really are full of surprises, Skye.”

**The End (For Now)**

\---

**Some Final Thoughts…**

Well, after about a year of writing, I’m happy to finally put the closing stamp to Season One of _Singularity_. It’s been quite a journey for me as a writer, especially with real life being a roller coaster of emotions both on a personal and a general level. While things for me personally have been going well, I have been writing this story against the backdrop of a world that gets more and more cynical as the days pass. That became a motivation to try and put forth the most optimistic thing I have ever written.

Even though this whole story literally just came about because of a wrestling video game, crafting an entire, fully-realized world was an exercise in creativity that was worth every moment. While it would’ve been easy to just create a story where it was just nothing more but Skye beating everybody up, making her a much more nuanced character despite her powers was a lot more satisfying.

That’s where the additions of Finch Finwick (aka Finn) and Ava Lorenz come into play. While Finn was always meant to be a character seen as both sidekick and (at times) equal partner to Skye, Ava was a character that didn’t exist until after I was halfway through writing Episode 3. It was at this point that the story transformed into something completely unique for me to write. It became more than just a straightforward conspiracy thriller, instead evolving into a story about three seemingly-disparate individuals uniting and becoming the best of themselves.

In a sense, that’s what I believe is the biggest strength of this story as a whole. It’s the “human factor”, so to speak. Skye might be an artificially-made superhuman meant to fight wars endlessly, but as you’ve read, it’s the presence of Finn and Ava (and Dr. Emery, her surrogate mother) that has helped her overcome that fate. Now, as a result, Skye is someone who holds her emotions close to her heart, showing that her true strength isn’t the superhuman strength she possesses, but rather the strength that comes from within her. Conversely, we see that just being around Skye has been a big benefit for Finn (who has become more confident in his own skin) and Ava (who is slowly learning to embrace her powers). You could say that my personal thumbprint of writing stories in which optimistic viewpoints ultimately triumph over the more nihilistic side of things is all over this web novel. I’m just an optimist at heart.

There are a number of people I wish to thank for helping directly (or indirectly) inspiring me to write this fun little story. I would like to thank my fellow author [Cat Cornett](https://twitter.com/BlackCatula) for continued support as I worked on _Singularity_ for over a year. I’d also like to thank screenwriter and Twitter friend [R.J. Lackie](https://twitter.com/rjlackie), creator of webseries such as _All For One_ and _Inhuman Condition_ for being an invaluable creative voice that helped inspire this story. My thanks also goes out to indie author [Ava](https://twitter.com/Ava_Jae) [Jae](http://avajae.blogspot.ca/) for her helpful videos and Twitter presence that serve as great advice for any prospective author. I also would like to thank my good friend [Jeff Harris](https://twitter.com/nemalki), someone who I'm proud to call a friend. His creativity and optimism have been an inspiration to me over the years I've known him. My thanks also goes out to my family. I love each and every one of them. Most importantly, I want to thank those that have followed along with every chapter of this story from start to finish. You are one of the things that motivate me to keep going even when the spectre of writer’s block loomed large.

It’s funny how a certain plot element -- specifically what inspired Dr. Emery to give Skye her name (as revealed in S1E6) -- has basically applied to the very process of writing this web novel. If you recall, Emery named her surrogate daughter “Skye” due to that name representing the endless possibilities that were in store for her. In a way, that plot element gradually also became a reference to the possibilities in store for me as I continued along with this novel.

I might dream a little big at times for the possibilities of this little story of mine, but those goals are still ones I hope to accomplish in the future as I continue to hone my craft as an author.

There never really was an intent to publish and sell this web novel (though, it should be noted, that’s not completely out of the question down the line…), but I don’t regret the time I’ve spent making sure that _Singularity_ will be enjoyed by all. Hopefully you have enjoyed reading this web novel as much as I’ve enjoyed writing and developing it over the past year. Don’t think of this as a simple ending… think of it as the beginning of something big.

**Cheers,**

**Marc Quill**


End file.
